Isabella's Point of View
I opened my eyes, seeing the night wasn't ending soon. It was thick and only the sounds of crickets could be heard.
The cold seeped into my bones, but I didn't move to close the window. I let it in. I let it remind me that I was still here, that I could still feel—no matter how much I wished I couldn't.
The sheets curled around my fingers were wet with sweat, my hands shaky as I clenched them into fists.
My body felt stiff, heavy, as if I were dragging the weight of everything that had happened along with me. The echoes of Ryan's words still clung to the air, bitter and sharp.
I never had a thing for you.
A hollow laugh bubbled up in my throat, but it never made it to my lips.
He wanted to hurt me. He wanted to push the knife in deeper. And for a moment, I had let him.
But I wasn't the girl who had signed the contract hoping for change again. That Isabella was dead. And I wasn't sure who I was now.