Alina’s POV
I realized how different everything felt now, not perfect, not simple, but honest. The past no longer felt like a chain around my ankles. It felt like a scar, something I could trace without reopening the wound.
I made tea and sat at the kitchen table, staring at my reflection in the dark glass. The woman looking back at me seemed older than the one who had fled the mansion, but she also seemed stronger, steadier, more certain of her own worth.
I no longer measured myself through anyone else’s approval. I had survived too much to give that power away again.
When Leo woke, he padded into the kitchen with sleepy eyes and a crooked smile. He wrapped his arms around my waist, and I felt the warmth of him sink into my bones.
“The sea is loud today,” he said, as if it were a l
