ASTRID'S POV

The sun had dipped below the horizon, leaving behind streaks of pink and orange in the sky. Darkness was creeping in, and soon the night would fully take over.

I sat there, staring blankly at the wall, my thoughts scattered and my heart heavy. The room felt colder, quieter, and lonelier as the minutes dragged on.

Dane was still nowhere to be seen. After I had poured my heart out to him, explaining everything, he just left, without a word, and hadn’t come back.

The silence of his absence was suffocating, and the uncertainty gnawed at me. I couldn’t stop thinking about how he might react once he’d...