Raisel’s POV
My head was spinning as I felt the weight of judgmental stares around me. Those looks—those whispers—brought back memories of my split with Alaric. The same unspoken accusation hung in the air: w***e. It stung then, and it still stung now. I clenched my jaw, trying to shrug it off, when the sound of a door creaking open caught my attention.
“Gwen,” I exhaled, relief washing over me at the sight of her familiar, sympathetic expression. It was a breath of fresh air amid this suffocating tension. She handed me a file, and I flipped through the pages quickly. A solution to the current crisis was underway, but we weren’t out of the woods yet.
“Thanks for bringing this. I’ll report the next steps to Soren,” I said, my tone clipped but grateful.
“He’s not in the office this week,
