Serena’s POVThe door opens again, I sit upright before I can stop myself, heart slamming against my ribs.The maid steps in first. Her face is pale, tense. Behind her, half-hidden in the shadow of the corridor, is a woman in an oversized grey servant’s uniform.Her steps are slow and Careful.When the door shut behind them, she lifts her head… her hair is completely white not from age alone but from stress, from captivity, from years of something that hollowed her out. Her cheeks are thin, her wrists fragile beneath the fabric but her eyes…Her eyes are my eyes.She freezes when she sees me , her lips part with utter shock.“Martina…” Her voice cracks. “My God… you’re alive.”The name hits me again, but this time it lands differently.My heart pounds so hard it hurts. She takes one unsteady step forward, then another.I don’t recognize her face. I search it desperately, trying to find something familiar, some memory that matches the ache in my chest… nothing comes but something ins
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