“Elliana, everyone must confront the consequences of their actions. There’s no escape through avoidance or denial. Fortunately, your youth when those mistakes occurred means people will forgive you. Simply live honorably from now on.”
Paige’s voice was gentle, almost tender, the kind of tone reserved for moral lectures delivered from a position of imagined superiority. Each word was wrapped in concern, polished to sound magnanimous—but beneath it lay a blade.
To anyone watching without context, Paige looked gracious. Noble, even. The wronged fiancée extending forgiveness to the troubled woman who had “lost her way.”
But Elliana felt every syllable strike like a slap.
The studio lights were hot, the air thick, yet her spine stayed straight. Slowly, deliberately, she lifted her gaze and
