SERAPHINA’S POV
“MINE!”
The sound crashed through me like thunder shattering glass, and something inside me splintered apart in a way I couldn't explain.
My hands shot forward before my mind could catch up, pushing against Jack’s chest with a force I did not know I had.
His face registered shock as he stumbled back, the ring flashing in his hand one final time before I turned away.
“Sera—wait—” he called after me, confusion threading through his voice.
But I was already running.
The crowd blurred into streaks of color and sound as I pushed through them, my bare feet hitting marble that suddenly felt too cold, too sharp.
Someone called my name. Catherine’s voice may have been there too, soft and measured as always, but even that could not anchor me anymore.
Because something had broken open inside me. Something I didn’t even know had been closed.
I ran until the music was gone behind me.
Until the laughter dissolved into silence.
