Elena’s Point Of View

The hall was silent.

Not the kind of silence that lingers after a whisper, but the kind that crashes like a wave freezing mid-air, like a breath caught in the throat, like the world itself holding still. Every eye was on me. Every ear strained. Every heartbeat echoed in the hollow space between Matilda’s words and the void they left behind.

“You can’t. You’ve never been pregnant before. You’ve never felt it. You’ve never lost one either. Not even a ...