تسجيل الدخولAuthor's POV Iris’s hand trembled as she stared at her son, the shock and betrayal evident in her wet eyes.“How could you?” she whispered, her voice cracking with a mixture of grief and fury. Arlo’s jaw clenched, his dark eyes flashing with a sudden, dangerous spike of anger as he touched his stinging cheek. His father stood up slowly, his towering presence filling the room with an oppressive chill. “Is it true, Arlo?” his voice boomed, dangerously low. “Did you lay your hands on her?”Arlo caught Emily standing far away in the hallway, looking at him with a cold gaze.Arlo didn't answer instantly His gaze remained locked on Emily, realization dawning with a sickening twist she hadn't broken. Instead, she had turned his own games against him.“You disgust me!” Iris screamed, her voice breaking through the room. “You’re fucking not even a human being. I’m ashamed of you, Arlo!” Her chest rose and fell heavily as she stared at her son.The past she had spent years trying to protect
Author's POV The door opened, and Iris’s eyes fell on Emily sitting on the bed, her face buried against her knees as she stared blankly out the window. Her face was red, her eyes swollen from crying.“I’m sorry for your loss,” Iris whispered, trying to comfort her, but she didn’t know what words could possibly help the girl whose world had just come crashing down around her.Emily slowly looked up…. Something in Iris’s voice reached her, but instead of easing the pain, it only made it burn deeper inside her.She was hurting.Burning from the inside with a pain so fierce that it was slowly turning into something else, something dangerous. Something that would burn down everything standing in its way.Iris sat beside her and gently pulled Emily closer, letting her lean against her. She looked into Emily’s swollen eyes for a moment before speaking.“I know what happened to you isn’t something you can just forget,” she said softly. “And I know there’s probably nothing I can say that will
Author's POV After everything he had done to her, how could she possibly believe that?“Then answer me! Where do I come into all of this?” Her voice shook with anger now.“I don’t know you. I don’t know your girlfriend. I don’t know what happened between my brother and your girlfriend. I don’t know anything!” She took a breath, her chest rising heavily.“Then how the hell am I involved in this?” Her eyes burned with tears, but she refused to look away.“And you know what?” Her voice broke into a bitter laugh. “You’re fucking psychopath.”“It was Ana who be-” Before Emily could finish, his hand closed around her neck and pulled her toward him.“I dare you to say her name.”His voice was low, but the warning in it made her blood run cold.Tears burned at the corners of her eyes as she stared at him, struggling to understand the rage behind his words.“You’re in this because your brother betrayed me,” Arlo said, his grip tightening. “He’s the one who did it.” Emily shook her head, trying
Author's POV Emily lay alone in the quiet darkness, her body sinking heavily into the soft mattress as she stared blankly at the floor. Closing her eyes, she shifted to find a comfortable position to rest, but her hand brushed against something hidden beneath the covers. When she pulled it out, she realized it was the same folded piece of paper Lucas had given her.Sitting straight up, an instinctive urge compelled her to read it right then. Unfolding the note, her eyes scanned the handwritten words left by Lucas:As she opened it, her eyes scanned the words, every line forcing a tear from her eyes as her hands trembled while looking at the page.The words blurred before her eyes. Every line on the paper felt like it was tearing her apart. Anger, agony, betrayal, every emotion seemed to burn through her from the inside.The paper slipped from her hand, landing beside her on the bed.Emily simply stared ahead into the darkness, looking at everything and nothing at the same time. Then
Emily’s POV I stood in the stunning pista-colored dress, looking at a reflection that resembled a dead person. I pushed the thought back; there was no reason to dwell on it, as it wouldn't change anything, and I knew it.The white heels lay inside their expensive box as my gaze drifted down to my feet, which still had a bandage wrapped around them. He was finding new ways to torture me. I pulled them out of the box.Every strap felt painful as I put them on after a struggle so much so that a tear rolled down my cheek. What was I doing? Why was I here? Every question raced through my mind. The old Emily was crying in a corner, my heart telling me to fight, not to let this happen. But it felt like having your hands tied tightly behind your back while someone hands you a knife and tells you to free yourself.The animal shelter was everything, the only legacy I had left, the only haven for creatures who had nowhere else to go. He knew it, and he was using it to break me piece by piece.S
Emily's POVMy body felt impossibly heavy. I slowly opened my eyes, but everything around me was blurred, shapes and lights melting into one another. A dull ache pulsed through my head, and my skin prickled with an uncomfortable, crawling sensation.I tried to remember where I was; nothing came to mind.I pushed myself upright, desperate to move.“Ma’am, slowly.” Someone caught me by the arms before I could fall and carefully guided me back onto the bed.I blinked repeatedly, trying to clear my vision.The room slowly began to come into focus: the ceiling above me, the unfamiliar walls, and the worried face of the woman beside me.My breathing hitched.Where was I?“Calm down. You’re in a hospital VIP room.”I looked at her, still trying to understand what was happening. My gaze fell to the badge pinned to her uniform, confirming that she was a nurse.“What happened to me?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.“You had a panic attack. You fainted,” the nurse explained gently. The







