On the ground...

Sophia sank onto the ground, her eyes shutting tight as warm tears traced silent paths down her skin.

Every choice she had made circled relentlessly in her mind, each one a weight she could no longer bear.

And yet, after everything, she couldn't shake the feeling that her decisions—no matter how painful—had always been inevitable, the price she had to pay for the life she had led.

Her thoughts drifted to Angel, and more painfully, to Angel's child.

If only she had been honest from the very beginning—if only Angel had known that she was Arthur's hidden wife—perhaps none of this would have unraveled into such a tragic mess.

The memories of being Arthur's wife came rushing back, bittersweet and suffocating.

Once, he had sworn she would never feel like a mere obligation, yet here she was, nothing more than a duty he had resigned himself to.

How had it come to this?

Why?