CHAPTER 148

“No,” I said firmly. “You are not leaving this place until we find a solution.”

Varya’s expression crumpled, and she turned away from me, retreating back into her silence.

For a brief moment, I remained there, observing her. Guilt was munching me, but I shoved it deep down, like an elevator going to the basement.

I slammed shut the door behind me and set it on lock, the feeling that something vital was slipping through my fingers wouldn’t go away. It was as though every time I tightened my grip on it, it slipped away further and further.

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Days passed with nothing but tension and paranoia. Increasingly, I'd found myself spending less time at home; unable to come face-to-face with what I had done. Wherever I went, my concern lay in leaving Varya with Tia.

Yes, because Tia's impatience had become hostility, resulting in whispering her name around in hatred. I could see it in the way she looked at me, the way she talked about Varya.

She wanted her gone. Permanently. And while I underst