Chapter 293

Chapter 293

Elsa

Drake stood perfectly still, his face cast in shadow. For a long moment, he said nothing. Then, without a word, he dropped a garment bag at my feet and walked away, his footsteps crunching on the gravel.

As he disappeared into the darkness, I felt hot tears sliding down my cheeks. Goddamn it. I was doing exactly what he always accused me of-playing the victim, selling a sob story. I wrapped my arms around myself, nails digging into my own skin.

I wiped the tears away angrily, smearing my makeup, but they kept coming, silent witnesses to ten years of accumulated pain.

The night air felt cool against my tear-stained face as I stood outside the Garcia mansion, trying to gather myself. My fingers trembled violently as I pulled out my phone to call a taxi, nearly dropping it twice. I couldn’t bear the thought of spending another goddamn minute in this place, with all those judging eyes and whispered rumors following me like hungry wolves.

“Fuck this whole night,” I muttered under my breath, pacing back and forth on the gravel driveway, my heels digging into