Elena’s POV
You can do this, Elena. I can do this.
The walk down the white halls was suffocating. Each step echoed louder than the last. I hated hospitals—they always smelled like bleach and secrets.
When I reached Clara’s room, I knocked softly, then stepped inside.
Her family was there. Three women and two men, all of them wearing the same tight-lipped expression, the kind that said I wasn’t welcome.
Clara lay on the bed, pale but awake. Her arm was in a sling. Her eyes widened the second she saw me.
I opened my mouth to speak, but her mother stood first. “Why are you here?”
Her tone wasn’t cruel—it was worse. It was cold.
“I came to apologize,” I said carefully. My voice was steady, even though my stomach twisted. “What happened at the office wasn’t intentional
