Chapter 43 — POV: Lyra
The bath had been warm, the steam curling like a fragile shield around me. My mood, for the first time in days, felt lighter. I laughed at a trivial thought, stretched, and let myself breathe.
Then my phone buzzed. Unknown number.
Curiosity made my fingers freeze for a second, then I swiped.
The video hit like ice-water.
My own body. My unconscious form in the warehouse. The dress torn, jacket half-off, skin more exposed than it should ever have been. The shadows of the men, their laughter, the mockery, hands that had dared touch me…
My stomach flipped. Rage, horror, and panic collided in one uncontrollable wave.
I tried to think, to breathe, but my limbs shook. My room became a battlefield. My fists slammed into the wall, my phone flew across the room, skidding under the dresser. Papers scattered. A lamp toppled. Clothes tumbled to the floor.
I sank to the corner, knees to chest, trembling, heart pounding like war drums. My vision blurred, and the room spun.
And then I felt him. Kieller.
"Lyra," his voice cut through the storm inside me. Calm. Controlled. Arrogant, but softer, protective. He crouched beside me, picking up the phone I'd thrown. His hand hovered over mine, steady, unyielding.
"Everything is under control. Don't worry. Just sleep."
His presence anchored me. Slowly, tremor by tremor, my panic ebbed just enough for my eyelids to grow heavy. I let his words wash over me, the chaos in my chest softening under the weight of his calm authority.
The last thing I saw before the world slipped again was his face—sharp, unwavering, almost unbearably arrogant—and the certainty in his eyes that he would handle the storm for me.
When I woke, a soft light kissed the edges of the room. The panic of the night before hadn't fully left, but something else lingered: a quiet, fierce determination.
And then I realized.
Today. Today was my birthday.
Twenty years of surviving, fighting, and bending the world to my will. The video, the threats, the fear—they wouldn't ruin this day. They wouldn't touch the queen I had become.
Somewhere deep down, I smiled. For all the darkness, there was still me. And today, the world would witness that.