In the muted stillness of her father's hospital room, Eliana Bennett stared down at her phone like it had personally betrayed her. The message glowed on the screen—cruel, deliberate, and far too confident:
Enjoy pretending you're safe with Rafael. This happiness you're clinging to? It's borrowed time. When the truth comes out, you'll lose him—and when you do, you'll wish you'd walked away while you still could.
Her honey eyes widened, a sharp pulse of fear slicing through her chest. For a second, just one, the room felt smaller. The machines hummed too loudly. The walls leaned in. Her warm brown skin lost a shade, and her full lips parted in a soundless breath, as if the message had stolen the air right out of her lungs.
But Eliana Bennett had survived worse than anonymous cowards with too much confidence and a phone.
