Delilah’s Pov

Silence had never felt so loud.

The walls of Verret’s mansion pressed in on me like a thousand watching eyes, the air thick, heavy, suffocating. I didn’t speak a word to him when we returned. I didn’t even look at him. My chest burned with everything I wanted to scream, but what was the use? He’d already won.

As soon as we entered, I went straight to the room. The moment the door shut behind me, I broke. I slid down to the floor and buried my face in my palms, the sobs escaping before I could even stop them. It hurt more than I wanted to admit—the...