Chapter 100

• Vivian’s pov
• I felt the bitter taste of blood rise in my throat, the shock of it taking me by surprise. Cassandra’s move had been swift too swift and now I was reeling. My body trembled, not from fear, but from the kind of tremor that comes when ego shatters, when everything you believed about your own invincibility crumbles before your eyes.
• My hand went instinctively to my neck, fingers brushing against my skin. It was real. Physical. A sharp reminder of just how far I had fallen in one decisive moment. My thoughts spun, trying to grasp the absurdity of it all. How had I the formidable force in this room ended up on the ground, vulnerable, exposed?