Chapter 10

• New (Aurora Lacerda)
• The car slid through the tall mansion gates as if crossing an invisible border between two realities. Outside, the world I knew—chaotic and relentless. Inside, a realm of untouchable perfection, where even the air seemed purer.
• For a moment, my mind went blank—I forgot everything. I forgot my mother in the hospital; I forgot the choice I had made. I even forgot Clara’s message, which still pulsed in the back of my mind like a ticking time bomb about to explode.