ELIJAH'S POV
Deborah stood there, staring at me like she was seeing me for the first time. Her eyes were wide with disbelief, her lips slightly parted as if she couldn't quite grasp what she was asking. It was a look that twisted something deep inside me, something I wasn't ready to confront.
"Deborah," I began, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to keep it steady.
She didn't move, didn't even blink. "Did you really beat Imogen?" she repeated, her voice barely above a whisper. There was fear in her eyes, a kind of fear that I had never seen before—not from her, not directed at me. It cut deeper than I expected.
I swallowed hard, trying to push down the panic that was clawing at my insides. This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not after everything I'd been through today. I couldn't afford to lose her too, not over something that was being twisted out of proportion.
