Elisabeth's POV
The silence that followed his words was deafening. Every sound in the room seemed to vanish, leaving only the thundering of my heartbeat in my ears. Beside me, my mother went rigid, her knuckles white as she gripped the fabric of her dress. My father, bloodied and restrained, somehow found the strength to raise his head and lock eyes with me. What I saw there made my chest tighten - raw desperation mixed with something that looked almost like regret.
My feet felt rooted to the spot. Every muscle in my body had locked up under the crushing weight of this moment - the revelations, the deception, the sheer brutality of what was happening.
