Chapter 62:

The Cost of Loyalty

Noah’s

I watched Ella walk away from the confrontation, her head held high, radiating a quiet, fierce power. A proud, slow smile crept onto my face, genuine and unrestrained. Seeing her finally stand up to every single one of them—the same people who had once treated her like dirt—filled me with something I hadn’t felt in years: relief.

She didn’t need to prove herself anymore. She already had. The way she had faced them, calm but absolutely fierce, ...