~SOPHIE'S POV~
I hadn't heard from Tessa in a while, and I told myself it was because she was busy, just like I was. Busy trying to keep everything from collapsing. Busy chasing threads that refused to stay still. Busy pretending exhaustion wasn't slowly gnawing at my bones.
Sleep had become a stranger. Every night ended the same way: staring at the ceiling, replaying headlines, comments, screenshots, all of them sharp and cruel. The scandal that broke days ago refused to die, and neither did the questions around it. I wasn't just looking for damage control anymore. I needed a permanent solution, something that would end this once and for all.
