Pauline's POV
I pressed the back of my hand against my wet cheeks, wiping away the tears that wouldn't stop falling. The air in that room had become suffocating, thick with his presence, so I escaped into the corridor without making a sound.
The hallway stretched before me in muted silence, bathed in the pale light of early dawn filtering through the towering windows. My steps rang out softly against the marble floor, each footfall carrying me further away from the person I used to be.
All I wanted was to escape this place. To find sanctuary somewhere, anywhere that didn't hold memories of what could never be mine. The word "home" felt hollow now, meaningless, but even emptiness would be better than staying here.
I had nearly reached the front entrance when his voice shattered the stillness.
"Wait."
My body went rigid.
Logan stood there, chest rising and falling rapidly, his gaze locked onto mine. The quiet between us stretched taut, threatening to snap.
