Chapter 136

• Chapter 136: How To Get To Him
• SERENA'S POV
• I count seconds. Minutes. Hours, maybe. The ticking clock on the wall becomes my only focus as I've stopped listening to the lecture entirely. My fingers tap relentlessly against the polished wooden desk—an impatient, staccato rhythm that's driving Cassidy crazy beside me, though she's too polite to say much beyond the occasional sigh and pointed glance. My eyes flick nervously from the analog clock to the window, where I spot one of the black-suited shadows stationed across the sun-drenched courtyard. Another bodyguard, stiff as a statue, lurks near the gym entrance, his eyes constantly scanning the perimeter. Yet another one positions himself strategically behind the library, almost blending into the shadows of the building. All of them here for me—watchful, vigilant, suffocating.