Scarlett POV
Seeing Delaney walk through the door should’ve felt good. Instead, it sat heavy in my chest, like I’d been holding my breath all day and finally let it out wrong.
She didn’t even say hello. Just reached out, caught my chin between her fingers, and turned my face toward the light.
I blinked. “What are you doing?”
She studied every angle of the swelling, eyes sharp, like she was checking for permanent damage.
Only when she was sure the bruising wouldn’t leave a scar did she let out an exhale.
“That pretty face of yours has had a hell of a year,” she said.
“First Flora Smith almost clawed it off, now this. Someone really tried to rearrange it.”
I didn’t answer. She wasn’t wrong.
I felt like the universe had decided I was its personal punching bag.
I really needed a r
