Isla’s POV
The sound of Chase’s voice stayed in my body even after my ears stopped hearing him through the door. It clung to my ribs like frost, sharp and quiet, repeating itself every time I tried to breathe. She might have planned it. The lightning that had shaken the villa the night before felt gentler than the sentence that split my world open. The storm outside had passed, leaving clean blue sky stretching above the ocean like endless forgiveness. But forgiveness was not something I felt now. The air was warm on my skin when I stepped outside, but my body was cold from the inside out. The sand under my feet was soft, white as bone and wet from last night’s rain. I walked far down the beach, away from the villa, until the building looked like a painting with bright windows, small and
