**DAMIAN’S POV**
I cannot remember the last time silence felt this sharp. It slices between us, hangs over the study like a storm waiting to break. Elena stands near the doorway, posture rigid, eyes focused everywhere except on me. She looks as if the air itself has betrayed her.
I should have spoken sooner. I should have told her everything the moment I learned it. Instead I watched her crumble under secrets I allowed to exist. Now every second I hesitate feels like an admission of guilt.
She wraps her arms around herself, not for warmth, but as if she is holding her body together by force.
“Are you going to tell me the truth,” she asks quietly, “or only the version that makes you look better?”
The bitterness in her tone lands hard. It thuds through my chest like something aimed with
