The sun had long climbed its way into the sky over Zeden, casting bold rays across the polished streets and rooftops. It was just past noon, and the city moved in its usual quiet rhythm—people rushing to meetings, children out of school laughing in clusters, and cars honking lazily as they rolled past traffic lights. But none of it registered in Elizabeth's mind.
She had just left Winters Corp after finding out there would be meeting that day abd though Stefan had Oliver take things up, she still needed to see how well he'd do.
The meeting had gone as expected—numbers, updates, decisions. Her presence, once commanding and unwavering, now felt weighty with a strange kind of guilt. A guilt that never really left her since Stefan discovered the truth… about Ruby, about Ivy, about the damage her silence had also caused.
