Serena PoV

No matter where I went, people stared at me. People looked around, exchanged glances, and discreet murmurs rose from the audience, and then, involuntarily, everyone started to come to me.

“Serena!” a woman shouted as she reached out with quivering hands to grab my arm. “You’re alive!”

“Yes, I am,” I replied with a faint smile on my lips, while my spirit was sinking inside me.

It tried to not to get overwhelmed as they all enveloped me with words of astonishment and relief. I could hardly manage it but I had to make an effort to be polite and reached out for their hand to shake. These...