47

Maxine Pov

Recovering from the storm of pain swirling around me felt like trying to swim against a current dragging me under. Liam's treatment was brutal, leaving me feeling like a shipwreck stranded on a desolate shore. Every ounce of hope I clung to vanished, leaving me adrift in a sea of despair and confusion.

In the depths of my suffering, I cursed the very world that had brought me into existence. The Moon goddess, in her infinite cruelty, seemed to delight in my agony, though I had done nothing to deserve it. Why was I singled out for such punishment? What had I done to draw her? And my father's words failed me now, I wished one day, I’d have the opportunity to tell him my mind to his face.

With each passing day, the weight of my torment grew heavier, crushing me beneath its relentless pressure. Tobias, my one comforter in this bleak existence, was barred from giving me even the smallest comfort. I in fact was suffering now, stripped of his title because of rendering help to me.