Myles stood frozen for several long seconds after Lilian's words settled into the air.
Dead. The word echoed hollowly inside his mind.
His relationship with Nadine had never been defined with promises or vows. They had never spoken about the future. But they had shared warmth. Shared the nights at the empty campus class. Shared laughter in the darkness when the world outside felt uncertain.
She had been there from the beginning, standing beside him when everything first turned chaotic.
That bond had been real. And now she was gone.
The memory of her being pierced through the chest resurfaced with brutal clarity. Myles remembered the sound, the sudden spray of blood, and the shock in her eyes.
A tremor ran through him.
That was the moment he had lost control.
