Aria's POV
"Are you sure about this?" Maya's voice crackled through the burner phone, taut with worry, like a stretched wire ready to snap.
"Because once you cross this line, Aria, there's no going back. No do-overs. No safety nets."
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, eyes flickering to Lila, who was asleep beside me in the passenger seat. Her head rested against a pillow she'd pulled from the hotel, innocence wrapped in exhaustion.
"I have to be," I whispered, the words tasting like guilt.
"You left Damon a note, Aria. A damn note. You know how he gets when he can't protect you—when he wakes up to find you gone without a trace, no warning, no explanation."
Maya's voice cracked, anger barely masking the worry swimming in her eyes. "Do you even know what you've done to him?"
I looked away, shame burning behind my eyes. "If I'd stayed, he would've tried to stop me. And I couldn't let him."
"Would've tried to stop me," I cut her off gently.
