Cassandra’s POV~
My throat felt like it was stuffed with dry, burning sand.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get a single word out. It was as though something invisible had wrapped its hands around my neck and squeezed. The silence wasn’t helping either. It was too quiet in here, too still. This kind of silence made my skin crawl.
But my heart? My heart was still screaming. Loudly. Panicked. Cracking.
I wrapped my fingers tighter around the cold, rusted metal bars in front of me and forced myself to breathe through my nose. One breath. Then another. But it was shaky. Shallow. Worthless.
Then I found my voice. Barely found it. “…Adriano?”
It came out in a whisper. A question more than a call. My voice didn’t even sound like mine anymore.
He didn’t move at first. Just sat there,
