Chapter 47 - Dirty-minded, Viviane.

Viviane

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I’m not the type to fall apart easily, not over the small stuff anyway.

I’ve learned how to keep it together, to stay composed. But sometimes—sometimes things hit you out of nowhere, like a punch you didn’t see coming.

Like Felicity’s tears. Her health. Her fragile, precious life hanging in the balance.

It’s a different kind of fear, the kind that claws at you from the inside, not loud but constant. It’s like walking a tightrope, knowing one wrong step could send everything crashing down. I can handle the stress, the uncertainty—but watching her struggle? That’s something that breaks me in ways I didn’t know I could break.

What I never expected, though, was how it felt to have someone else step in. To have someone stand up for me, protect me—even when I didn't ask for it. Especially when it's against my own family.

It’s strange, the way it shakes you. You spend so long being the one who’s strong, the one who holds it all together, and suddenly someone else is there.