Seventy nine

Belle's POV

Walking into the living room wasn’t easy. My legs felt heavy, like I was dragging weights with each step. The air in the mansion was suffocating, thick with tension and unspoken fears.

My heart raced, a wild, chaotic rhythm that matched the pounding of my thoughts. I could still hear my mother’s frantic voice behind me, begging, pleading for me to stay with them, to hide, to escape into the secret bunker.

“Belle, you don’t have to do this!” she cried, reaching out as if she could physically hold me back. Her eyes were wide with fear, her voice trembling. “Come with us. We can hide. We can survive this.”

I stopped, my hand resting on the doorframe, my back to her. I couldn’t turn around. I couldn’t let her see the turmoil etched on my face, the way my hands trembled from the weight of what I was about to do.

My family was scared—terrified, really—but the idea of running, of leaving Zane behind to face this monster alone, felt like a betrayal I wasn’t willing to commit.

“W