Chapter 1163

Jude stood frozen, his breath coming in shallow bursts, the weight of what almost happened crushing him. Sophie wrapped her arms around him, grounding him, pulling him back from the edge.

"We'll face her together," she said, voice fierce and soft all at once.

And as the night deepened around them, they knew the battle was only just beginning.

The dawn broke slow and gray, casting a pale, cold light over the island. The storm that had threatened the night before hadn't come, but the air was heavy with it, the promise of rain hanging just out of reach. Jude stood at the water's edge, staring out at the endless sea, the waves crashing in steady rhythm against the rocks. His eyes burned from lack of sleep, but he didn't care. He couldn't stop thinking about Rose, about the way she'd looked at him, the way her voice had wrapped around him like silk, sweet and suffocating all at once.