Polly’s boots struck the concrete, her steps echoing in the long corridor as she caught sight of the two security officers speaking with Bella Rose and the others. She quickened her pace, breath rising sharp in her chest, ready to call out Rose’s name — ready to drag her mess into daylight. But then her eyes found Isobel.
The bruises. The split lip. The hollow grief written plain on her face.
Polly stopped short, her throat tightening until she thought she might choke. A cold sweat broke over her as the truth cut clean — her foolish spite, her whispered poison, had rolled downhill into something monstrous. The sight of it made her stomach turn.
Bella Rose’s shoulders squared, her body going stiff as iron when she saw Polly. Ryder and Wren followed her gaze, their eyes narrowing as Polly
