Chapter 116

• KELILAH’S POV
• The night air was heavy with moisture, and the forest was eerily silent—too silent, like the calm that settles before a violent storm. Moonlight filtered through the thick canopy, casting fragmented shadows along the narrow, beaten path. I followed her—Rita. She didn’t see me. No one ever did. Not in this form.
• Her shoulders were hunched forward, her feet dragging over the damp leaves as though each step weighed a thousand pounds. She looked broken, or maybe just... tired. Tired of being kind. Tired of being misunderstood. Tired of the man she couldn't stop caring about.