Freya sat slumped against the wall, her body shaking as silent tears traced lines down her cheeks. Her father’s cruel words echoed in her mind, filling her with a familiar, aching emptiness. For as long as she could remember, he had treated her like this; s if she were a burden, as if she had committed some unforgivable sin. Somewhere in her heart, a voice whispered that she deserved this treatment, that she was at fault for everything wrong in their family. It was a whisper she’d grown up with, the shadow of guilt her father had woven around her life ever since her mother’s death.

But Emilia’s gentle words...