The penthouse feels like a cage carved out of marble and silence.
I walk in ahead of Damian, my pulse still echoing with the chaos outside. My skin has not stopped buzzing since the cameras, the questions, the accusations about his brother and about me. Every step up here feels like I am climbing into a world that does not belong to me. His world. Adrian’s shadow. A place I was never supposed to stand in.
I shut myself in the guest room before Damian can say anything. The door clicks shut, and I press my back against it, breath shaky and uneven. The room is too clean and too quiet. My reflection in the window looks pale, drawn, and stretched thin. My hands tremble. My throat burns. My chest feels tight as if someone tied an invisible rope around it.
I slide down to the floor and pull my
