AIDEN’S POV
The room felt too quiet, too still, as I stood there, watching Elena’s back. Her shoulders were tense, her arms crossed tightly over her chest like a shield. The sunlight streaming through the window caught the edges of her hair, but it did nothing to soften the distance between us.
My chest ached—a sharp, relentless pull that made it hard to breathe. She was slipping away, and I could feel it—like sand through my fingers, no matter how tightly I tried to hold on.
Luke’s words echoed in my head, a bitter reminder: “Give her space. Let her breathe.” But every instinct in me screamed to close the gap, to say something, anything, to make her turn around and look at me. Instead, I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced the words out, my voice low and rough. “I’ll leave
