Ayla's POV
I noticed the way her fingers tightened slightly around her glass. Her eyes softened for just a fraction of a second, a fleeting glimpse of something I had rarely seen—more human than controlled, more open than guarded. It was different from the Elena I knew, the one who wore precision like armor.
"Ayla," she began again, slower this time, her voice low and measured, as if she were testing the words before letting them fall. "There are things I…"
She paused, her gaze dropping briefly to her hands before lifting to meet mine again. There was something unguarded in her eyes then, something that made my chest tighten without warning. My breath caught, suspended between what she was about to say and what I feared she might not.
She had just opened her mouth when the atmosphere shifted.
From somewhere behind me, soft strings began to play.
Not loud. Not sudden. Just close enough to be unmistakable.
