Serena's POV
It was not a compliment, and there was no cruelty in it. It was pure and simple concern, and I did not know what to do with concern because no one had ever been concerned about me before.
My father had looked at me with anger, his eyes hard and cold whenever I crossed his path. My stepmother had looked at me with contempt, her lips curling into a smile that never reached her eyes. The guards had looked at me with indifference, treating me like furniture that did not matter at all.
But Alejandro looked at me like I was someone worth worrying about, and I did not know how to respond.
"I am fine," I said, but my voice came out smaller than I wanted it to be.
Alejandro's golden eyes held mine, and they did not waver. "You are not fine. You have not been eating. I know how muc
