Elena’s POV

I stood where I was long after Damien carried Stella away.

The corridor gradually emptied, footsteps retreating, voices lowering until the whispers dissolved into an indistinct hum that pressed against my ears.

I could still feel the weight of their gazes—judgmental, curious, satisfied—clinging to my back like damp air. My body felt stiff, as if I’d been frozen in place, while my mind drifted somewhere far away, hollow and dull.

My phone rang suddenly in my ...