Chapter 17 Midnight Call

• It was well past midnight when Elara’s phone lit up with an incoming call.
• She had been lying awake in the luxurious villa room, staring at the ceiling as the weight of the day pressed down on her. The argument with her grandmother still echoed in her mind, mixing with the haunting images from her nightmares. Sleep felt impossible.
• The name on the screen brought a rare flicker of comfort — Isabella, her best friend since childhood, one of the few people who had known her before tragedy turned her into the Ice Queen.