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Chapter 66 - People Change
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2024-12-25 14:00:06*** Ariana’s POV
The knock pulls me from a restless, uneasy sleep.
For a second, I lie still, blinking at the unfamiliar ceiling. The heavy blankets beneath me feel too soft, the air too warm. Then the sour citrus scent reaches my nose, sharp and faintly bitter, and the reality of where I am slams back into me: the car, the church, the rogues, the locked door.
I sit up slowly, rubbing my eyes. My dress from yesterday is wrinkled, and my shoes sit in a messy heap on the floor. I’d ignored the soft sleeping clothes folded neatly on the chair last night, as well as the tray of fruit and bread left waiting on the bedside table. I hadn’t trusted any of it.
The knock comes again, soft but persistent.
&
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