Alina

The first light of dawn slipped through the curtains like a secret that wasn’t supposed to be seen.

For the first time in days, the Sterling mansion was quiet—no murmurs in the halls, no heavy footsteps pacing behind locked doors. Just the sound of the wind brushing against the glass, soft and haunting.

I lay there for a long moment, eyes open, staring at the ceiling.

Sleep hadn’t come easily. My mind replayed everything—Atlas’s whispers, Ares’s half-truths, the scars that ...