The Fallout...

(Kira's POV)

___________

The food arrived, steaming and fragrant, but it may as well have been ash. Still, I forced myself to eat. One mechanical bite at a time. I hadn't touched a thing since leaving the house—my stomach had been too knotted with rage, shame, and the hollow echo of Lena's last words.

How could I have eaten after that kind of fight?

After watching her face twist in betrayal—eyes wide, voice trembling—just before she stormed out and left me standing in a ruin of words neither of us could take back?

And then there was Maven.

That sick bastard.

His text had crawled through my phone like an oily serpent, whispering his twisted commands with the confidence of someone who knew he already owned me. Because, in a way, he did. I'd handed him the keys—willingly, stupidly—and now he had leverage I couldn't undo. A mistake I couldn't rewind.