Page 136 of Scarred in Silence

“Then we won’t.”

The sky keeps bleeding. The trees keep whispering.

And for the first time in forever, I’m not haunted.

I’m home.

* * *

The front door clicks shut behind me, and it feels like a full-circle moment—the kind that tightens your chest and softens your bones all at once. I’m still wearing the same hoodie from after the hike, my fingers ghosting over the new weight on my hand.

The diamond catches the light.

It’s not obsidian like I once imagined he’d give me. Not jagged. Not cursed. Just… clear. Honest.

Pure.

The irony tastes like sugar on my tongue.

Lucien’s upstairs, showering off the mountain dust and adrenaline. I should join him—but there’s one person I need to see first.

I grab my phone, flop down onto the couch, and hitFaceTime – Evelyn ????.

It only rings twice.

Her face appears, freshly moisturized and already annoyed.

“What? You finally resurfaced. Did you kill a bear or—wait.” Her eyes narrow. “Why do you look like that?”

I bite my lip, holding my hand off-screen for just another beat longer.

“Look like what?”

“Like you’re about to drop a bomb. Spill it.”

I grin. Then I lift my hand into frame.

Evelyn screams.

Like, actually screams—sharp, high-pitched, and so loud I yank the phone away from my face. I burst out laughing as her blurry form readjusts.

“Shut the fuck up,” she gasps. “Astra. ASTRA!”

“I’m guessing you approve?”

“Bitch, that is not a ring. That’s a declaration of war. What the Hell, is that a full carat? Two?”

I glance at it again. The way it glints—icy but warm. Brutal but soft.

“It’s clean,” I say quietly. “No blood. Just… us.”

She stares at me, blinking hard. Her usual snark fades for a second, replaced by something almost tender.

“You look happy,” she says. “Like actual, terrifying, might-bury-a-body-with-him happy.”

I shrug, tucking my legs up under me. “I am. I think I’m finally… not running.”

“Not even from yourself?”