Chapter 88: Bitter Healing
(Eden's POV)
The phone felt heavy in my hand as I ended the call with Ethan. His offer still lingered, soft and sincere, in the back of my mind.
“Do you want me to come get you?” he had asked.
Part of me had wanted to say yes. It would have been so easy to leave this place, to put as much distance as possible between myself and everything Alexander represented—control, pain, and promises that never meant anything.
But I couldn’t do that. Not yet.
“I’ll handle it myself,” I had told Ethan, my voice steady despite the storm inside me.
He had fallen silent for a moment, but I could sense his worry. It lay heavy across the bond of friendship we’d built. “If you change your mind…” His voice had been low, filled with unspoken regret. Then, softer still, h
