LISA’S POV
My fists clenched under the table, nails biting into my palms hard enough to leave crescent moons, but I kept my face smooth—a mask of calm composure. Aiden had defended Elena. Again.
It was one thing to tolerate her presence in this house, but to see Aiden looking at her like that, talking to her as if she still meant something to him—it made my blood boil. I had to remind him where his focus should be. On me. On our future. Not her.
The way his eyes lingered on her—soft, almost reverent, as if she still held some irreplaceable piece of him—sent a sharp, searing ache through my chest. It wasn’t just anger. It was something deeper, something raw and gnawing, like a splinter buried too deep to dig out. A fear I refused to name, refused to even let myself think about.
He
