The room felt oppressively quiet.
Too still. Too heavy.
It was the kind of silence that pressed against the chest, as if the walls themselves were holding their breath, terrified that even the slightest sound might cause what remained of Raya to completely disintegrate.
"…What did you say?"
Raya's voice came again, softer this time, barely above a broken whisper. Yet every syllable carried the weight of an avalanche.... devastating, unstoppable, and final.
Adrian didn't answer right away.
For one long, agonizing second, he simply looked at her.
At the fragile way her body lay slumped on the worn couch, pale as porcelain and just as easily shattered. At the haunting emptiness in her once-vibrant eyes..... an emptiness that hadn't existed before this nightmare began. At the raw, unguarded pain etched across her features, no longer hidden behind walls or masks. She looked smaller. Broken in ways that went far deeper than flesh and bone.
Something inside Adrian twisted violently.
