Kiara POV:

As the door closes behind Aiden with an almost palpable finality, I turn to Riley, who is hunched over, her whole body quivering. Her face, framed by her dishevelled brown hair, is marred by the unmistakable flush of humiliation and heartbreak. Each tear that falls from her eyes seems to carry the weight of a lost dream, of a love painfully unrequited. I catch her eye for a moment, and in that brief connection, I see a whirlwind of regret, guilt, and desperation.

"I'm ...