This was her chance, her one shot. She straightened her tattered dress, smoothed the fabric as best she could, and tried to tame her hair. But the strands were greasy, tangled, a train wreck no amount of fussing could fix. Her hands trembled as she tucked them into her lap, nerves gnawing at her.
The door opened. Her heart jolted, hope surging, only to plummet into the abyss when she saw who stepped inside.
It was Jian Ci. He moved with a cold precision, his aura tethered at the edge of eruption, filling the room with suffocating pressure. He sat opposite her, his gaze sharp, unyielding, cutting through her soul like a blade.
Alarna scoffed, though her voice wavered. "Did you come to revel in my pain?"
