AT THE SAME TIME
ISABELLA
I didn't walk out of the mansion, I fled. Bare feet hit the marble, silk clutched in my fists, breath tearing from my chest as if the house itself had decided to keep me. The corridors felt longer than they had any right to be, doors too tall, mirrors catching flashes of my reflection like witnesses. Hair loose, nightgown wrinkled, and pride abandoned somewhere near the grand staircase. I had to get home and stay away from him as far as possible.
"Don't look back." I whispered.
The system pulsed, annoyingly calm.
"WARNING: MALE LEAD PROXIMITY-"The system began.
"I KNOW." I hissed, yanking open a side door I had memorized the night before.
Cold night air slapped my skin. I ran down gravel paths, past sculpted hedges and sleeping fountains, until my lungs burned and my heart felt like it might betray me outright. I escaped, and then the system chimed.
"CHAPTER 6 IS ACTIVE. ESCAPE OR IS IT? STATUS: TEMPORARY."The system said.
