d of it heavy against the windowpanes. It mirrored the storm brewing inside her-a maelstrom of rage, hurt, and betrayal. She had long since stopped lookin

e wasn't the woman she had been when they met, the one who dreamed of a life filled with love and ambition, th

een nothing more than a prize, a means to an end, a trophy wife to someone who had never truly seen her. He had loved the idea of her-her beauty, her status, t

t shuffle of someone walking across the wooden floor. She turned her head, heart

, her eyes fixed on Luna with a mixture of pity and disdain. Her sleek blonde hair fell around her shoulders like a waterfall, perfectly styled even at this late hour. Bia

a ghost," Bianca remarked,

e, though it felt

fectly manicured eyebrow arched. "You know, you don't have to keep pre

ren, for the sake of her family. But in the silence of this house, where the only sound was the rain and the soft ticking of the clock, she couldn't ignore it an

t you? All that beauty wasted," she said casually, as if the words

herself go, not because she didn't care, but because the weight of everything-motherhood, marriage, the constant balancing act of trying to be

ill look at you the way he did when you were perfect. But now?

ill to defend herself. She had spent too many nights trying to change herself, trying to fit into a mold that wasn't m

ou could still win him back. If you lost the weight, if you stopped being so... well, you, maybe

offer advice felt more like a judgment, a condemnation of everything Luna had become. She w

Luna said, her voice hoarse. "I

lf if you think you can just walk away from this. You don't have the strength

ou think I don't know what's going on behind my back? Darius isn't the only one who's been unfaithful. You think

ought she saw a flicker of something-guilt? Regret? But it was gone as quickly as it

"You're pathetic. You think Darius cares about you? He doesn't. He hasn't

ho had been in the middle of it all felt like a slap. Bianca wasn't wrong. Darius had never cared about her the wa

rson who's telling you what you don't want to hear. You've lost. All that's left is for you to d

en building in her eyes finally spilled over, but she didn't wipe them away. She didn't care anymor

a shift deep inside her. Maybe she wasn't ready to leave. Maybe she wasn't ready to

had