ARIANA

I could hardly process what was happening as I watched Grayson stagger under the weight of the bullets. My heart raced, each thud matching the rising panic within me. “No! Grayson!” The words tore from my throat, raw and desperate, but the sound felt swallowed by the chaos around us.

The world seemed to slow, and every instinct in me screamed to reach for him, to pull him to safety. I pounded on the window, my voice hoarse as I screamed his name again, “Grayson!” But the car kept moving, and his figure grew smaller and smaller.

“No, no, no!” I cried out, struggling against Mathew’s grip as he...