Elara did not remember how she escaped the Gala.

When her vision finally cleared, she was leaning heavily against the damp wooden door of a carriage, the rhythmic clopping of the horses’ hooves jarring her fragile bones with every step. She had handed the driver a fistful of gold and given him the

The morning sun filtered through the grand arched windows of the Thorne estate, casting long, mocking shadows across the marble floors. Kaelen Thorne marched down the corridor toward the guest wing, his jaw set in a hard, uncompromising line.

He had barely slept. The image of Elara at the Gala—sta

The floorboards of the childhood cottage were incredibly cold, but Elara no longer minded. In fact, she welcomed it. The biting chill seeping through the wood was the only physical sensation left to her, a stark contrast to the absolute, terrifying numbness spreading outward from her chest.

She la