Chapter 204 Something Has Shifted

• Aurora’s P.O.V
• "Ashton, how can you say that?" My voice trembled, the weight of his words pressing against my chest like a slow, suffocating force. "Hope is the only thing keeping us alive." My hands clenched at my sides, my breath uneven. How could he even think of giving up now? After everything we had been through, after everything we had to survive till this day, he was just going to let despair take over?
• Ashton exhaled sharply, running a hand through his disheveled hair, his expression caught between frustration and exhaustion. "Aurora, hope doesn’t change reality. It doesn’t stop what’s happening." His voice was low, raw, like he was barely holding himself together. "We keep telling ourselves things will get better, that this is just another nightmare we’ll wake up from, but it’s not. This—this is real." He gestured vaguely around us, at the dimly lit walls that seemed to press closer with every passing second. "And I don’t know how much longer we can pretend we’re okay."