Chapter 69 Echoes Of Doubt, Vows Of Stone

• (POV: Isabela – 'Elena')
• A sour mix of old smoke and sharp cleaner hung in the air. Perched on the sagging mattress, my gaze drifted past dirty glass to wet bricks and shadowed corners below. Just another stop along a road with too many stops. This drifting existence belonged to Elena now - shifting cities, watching every direction, holding everyone at arm's length. That girl once trembling in silk lace, Isabela Montoya by name - she seemed less real each day. She was gone. Burned away in the fire of Mateo’s rage and my own father’s cold betrayal.
• But even as Elena, the memory of the escape, that frantic, desperate flight from Mateo’s burning fortress, replayed in my mind. Every single time. Mostly after dark, when silence dragged on, wide and hollow, broken just by my breath plus a restless dread that stayed glued close, always there.