Chapter 31 The Runaway Bride

• (POV: Isabela Montoya)
• The silence in the room made the bedside clock sound enormous. Every tick was a deliberate tap, driving a little deeper under my skin, making my jaw tighten. Three AM. Almost time. My escape window, the one Rena had assured me would open during the chaos of the Linarez gala setup across town, was just minutes away. My heart hammered, a wild, frantic drum trying to break free of my ribs. One beat stole my breath with sheer terror, the very next pulsed with a hope so fierce, it burned.
• Ready. I perched on the edge of the bed, already in the plain dark trousers and tunic I’d stashed away weeks back, when this moment was less a plan and more a dangerous, whispered what-if. Everything felt unreal, like I was watching myself in a movie. My meager supplies were ready in a small, plain backpack hidden under the bed. Camila’s life savings, thick in a plain envelope. The small, unregistered burner phone she'd risked so much to get me. And hidden deep within the bag, wrapped in a soft cloth, was the dagger Mateo had given me. Cold. Heavy. A confusing mix of threat and… something else I couldn’t name. I didn’t know why I was bringing it, only that leaving it behind felt wrong. A weapon for a world where freedom, as he said, had to be taken.