CHAPTER 59 You Made Me So Proud

  Dana POV

  Barthel nodded attentively as my words washed over him, his expression a mirror of understanding and pride.

  "Yes. You made me so proud," he affirmed, his words infused with softness.

  "Is this because the people you want to see you succeed didn't attend?" Bathel's inquiry hung in the air, laden with a weight that threatened to suffocate me.

  "Bathel- " I began, the weight of unspoken truths lingering heavily between us.

  "No, it's alright, I know how much you want to pain the people who have pained you..." Barthel's words came as a gentle reassurance, his touch upon my hand a comforting anchor amidst the tempest of emotions raging within me.