(Elara)
I watched Isabella walk through the palace halls like she owned the place. She didn't even glance my way, as if I wasn't even worth her time. But I noticed the change.
Something was different about her, a little more confidence, a slight shift in her gaze that I couldn't quite place. It made my skin crawl, and I clenched my fists, struggling to keep my face calm.
She wasn't supposed to look like this. After everything, after Nicholas left her, after all the humiliation she'd been through, she was supposed to be broken, ashamed, hidden away somewhere far from here. Yet there she was like she'd somehow found new strength. And that worried me more than I'd like to admit.
I hated her for it. For surviving. For still holding her head up high. And I hated that she had a chance, even the slightest chance, of taking the title I deserved.
