Serenity's POV
The café door swings shut behind us, the soft chime trailing like a ribbon of sound as we step out into the late afternoon air. The sun is low—warm gold, bleeding into orange—and for a moment it washes the street in a dreamy glow that does not match the sinking weight inside my chest.
Celestine walks beside me, cheerful, oblivious to the silent storm unraveling in my head. She’s talking about her upcoming gala, about designers, about how she might need me to help her choose outfits, her tone feather-light and coaxing. I manage nods at the right intervals, even an occasional comment that sounds like me, but my mind is far away—buried in a single revelation from minutes earlier.
The ring.
The ring she flaunted so casually. The ring she said Kaelen gave her. The ring she sa
