Chapter 55 Under The Weight Of The Secret

• Rachel POV
• The click of the bathroom door closing behind me echoed like thunder in my head, despite being just a soft sound. The silence that followed was deafening, heavy, as if the air itself was thick with the weight of what had just happened.
• My fingers trembled as I finished buttoning my blouse, smoothing my skirt with mechanical motions, trying to anchor myself to something tangible. My heart pounded so hard it seemed it might burst from my chest, and the muffled music from the party downstairs was just a distant hum, unable to reach me.