Mary Ann’s POV
I froze beside the window.
The cold night air moved across my face, but I barely felt it. Every part of me had become focused on the corridor outside my room.
Modric’s door stood open.
His voice carried through the quiet hall.
“I told you not to call me here.”
The woman answered through the phone.
Her words were too faint for me to understand clearly, but her tone was emotional. Hurt. Demanding. Familiar.
Then that one word reached me.
Love.
It slipped through the wall and settled inside my chest like a blade.
I remained completely still.
The bond tightened between Modric and me. He knew I was awake. Perhaps he could sense where I stood inside the room. Perhaps he felt the sharp pain I tried to hide before it travelled too strongly through our connection.
I forc
