Chapter 2

Elara POV:

I didn't knock. I didn't clear my throat. I just turned and walked away from his office, his soft voice, meant only for Sofia, a fading poison in the air.

Let him have his moment. Telling him I was leaving would grant him a power over my departure that he no longer deserved.

He wouldn't care where I was going anyway. That was the last piece of my pride I had left to cling to.

Back in my room, the silence was deafening. I had lived in this room for ten years, a pretty, pastel prison designed by Dante.

I glanced at the clock. I had set a timer in my head. Every tick was a countdown to freedom, and every second, an agony.

I walked to the bed and reached for the dragon-shaped night light on the bedside table. My fingers traced the cool ceramic scales, a relic from a time when his protection felt like love.

With a click, the golden light died, plunging the corner into darkness. I didn't need it anymore. I would learn to navigate the dark on my own.

I pulled a large suitcase from the closet and began to pack. Not clothes. Not essentials.

I moved through the room like a ghost, collecting every single thing he had ever given me. A silver locket; a first-edition copy of a book I'd mentioned once; a cashmere scarf. Each object felt like a lead weight in my trembling hands.

A vast, cavernous emptiness opened up inside me. It was a physical sensation, a hollowness in my gut that threatened to swallow me whole.

I forced myself to breathe, to push down the tidal wave of grief that was clawing at my throat. No tears. Not yet.

My fingers brushed against a thick, leather-bound book on my shelf. My diary. The one I'd started when I was eight, the year I came to live with him. It was filled with a child's adoration, a teenager's crush, and finally, a young woman's misguided love.

I opened it, the pages whispering secrets. Here was a drawing of him, a clumsy sketch from a ten-year-old's hand. Here was an entry about how he'd carried me home after I'd fallen and scraped my knee. He had been my world, my only anchor in the storm of my parents' disastrous divorce and my father's abandonment.

I flipped to a later page, my own handwriting replaced by his sharp, decisive script.

He'd found my diary once, years ago. Instead of being angry, he'd written on a blank page at the back. It was a plan. My plan.

"You will attend university in New York," it read. "After graduation, you will work for the Moretti Group. I will always protect you, Elara. You will always be under my wing."

His wing. His cage.

My fingers tightened on the page. The pain was a sharp, cold shard inside me. With a guttural sob that I choked back, I ripped the page out. Then another. And another.

I tore through the diary, shredding ten years of devotion, ten years of a lie. The sound was violent, satisfying. Each rip was a severing, a piece of him being torn from me.

I shoved the fistfuls of paper confetti into the suitcase and zipped it shut. It was done. The past was packed away, ready to be disposed of.

There was no going back.

Later that night, I heard his car in the driveway. I peered through the curtains to see him helping Sofia out of the passenger side.

They were laughing, his arm wrapped securely around her waist, his head bent toward hers. He didn't even glance up at my window.

He used to. He always used to.

They came inside, their voices echoing in the grand foyer. I forced myself to go downstairs, to face them one last time.

"Elara, darling," Sofia said, her smile bright and blinding. She held out a small, beautifully wrapped box. "A little something. A welcome-to-the-family gift."

I took it, my own smile feeling like a cheap mask. Inside, nestled on a velvet cushion, was a delicate, intricate watch made of gleaming silver-toned metal.

"It's beautiful," I said, my voice hollow.

Sofia beamed, turning to Dante. "I thought it was perfect for her."

Dante's eyes were on Sofia, full of an adoration that made my stomach clench. He didn't even look at the watch. He didn't look at me.

And in that moment, I knew.

He had forgotten.

He, who had once memorized every allergy, every fear, every tiny detail of my existence. He, who had personally vetted every piece of jewelry I'd ever worn, ensuring it was pure gold or platinum because any other metal left my skin red and blistered.

He had completely forgotten that I was allergic to metal.

The pain was a dull, blunt instrument, ramming into my chest. This wasn't just forgetfulness. This was erasure.

The special place I thought I held in his life, the one that made him pay attention to the little things, had vanished. It had been given to Sofia.

"Thank you," I said, forcing the smile to stay in place. "It's lovely."

The lie tasted like ash in my mouth, but it cemented my resolve. The protection I had mistaken for love was gone. It was well and truly gone.

Back in my room, I dropped the watch on my desk with a clatter. I didn't care if it broke.

I picked up my phone, my fingers moving with a cold, steady purpose.

I found his name. Dante.

The screen gave me options. Call. Message. Block. Delete.

I held my breath and pressed Delete Contact. A small, digital execution.

And with that single tap, the hope I'd clung to for a decade died.