ElaineI couldn’t say a word.The crash of the door slamming shut left a heavy, palpable silence so thick I didn’t know how to respond to it. Arsel turned for a moment to take a deep breath, but the air was so charged with residual tension that the hairs on my arms stood on end. I stayed there, curled up on the bed, my heart pounding against my ribs like a bird trapped in a wicker cage.We were cut off from the rest of the world, but the image of those men—so imposing, so ready for a war that seemed to revolve around my own erased existence—made me feel small, a speck of dust in the midst of a hurricane.“Arsel…” I whispered, barely a whisper.He turned slowly. Upon seeing my face, his anger subsided considerably, and his golden eyes, once fierce, softened with a guilt that pained me to see.“Forgive me, my love,” he said, returning to my side. “They shouldn’t have barged in like that. I won’t let them scare you again.”“It’s not just them,” I managed to say, hugging myself. “It’s eve
Last Updated : 2026-05-16 Read more