Chapter 16

• “Why does Astrid hate me so much?” she whispered to herself, pacing the room. “What did I ever do to her?”
• Her mind raced as she tried to make sense of everything. Astrid had never been kind to her, but Chloe had brushed it off as mere jealousy or rivalry. However, today’s confrontation had been different. The venom in Astrid’s words, the way she had said Chloe was “nothing but a pawn in Kael’s game”… It wasn’t just malice. There was something deeper—something darker—that Chloe couldn’t understand.
• She sat on the edge of her bed, gripping the sheets tightly. Her mind reeled back to the moments they had shared together—Astrid’s cold glares, the subtle digs, the way she always seemed to be watching Chloe like a predator waiting for its prey.