Chapter 7

I could feel the weight of Elijah’s eyes on me as we drove through the empty streets. The silence between us was thick, the tension suffocating, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak.

I stared out the window, my mind reeling from everything that had happened in the last few hours.

Damian’s words echoed in my head, sharp and cruel: You’ve made your choice. But had I? Had I really chosen this—Elijah, the lies, the betrayal? Or was it just a consequence of everything falling apart?

My heart clenched as I thought of Damian, of the way his face had twisted with anger and pain. He had always been cold, distant, but in those moments, there had been something raw and broken about him. I had never seen him like that, and I didn’t know how to process it.

The car slowed as Elijah pulled into the long, winding driveway that led to his estate—a place I had never been but had heard whispered about.

The looming mansion came into view, its dark, gothic architecture casting shadows that stretched out