The greenhouse shattered into echoes.
Emily's scream still vibrated in the bones of the room, trapped between the broken panes and twisting vines. Her chest rose and fell in jagged bursts, the agony in her eyes bright enough to blind. Alexander's arms were around her, not restraining, not controlling—just trying to hold together the pieces of the woman who had been unmade in an instant.
"Emily—stop—Emily—"
His voice was raw with fear.
But she didn't hear him.
She didn't hear anything except the truth that had crashed into her like a bullet:
Leo was gone. Taken. Held by a ghost who wasn't supposed to exist.
Her baby. Her heart. Her entire soul.
It felt like the world had tilted, ripping gravity away from her. The air tasted metallic, sharp, suffocating. Her knees nearly gave in, and it was only Alexander's grip that kept her from collapsing into the shards of glass below.
Emily's fingers tore at his shirt as she tried to lunge forward again. "LET ME GO!"
