Seraphina's Point Of View
Panic struck my chest like a physical blow, sharp and sudden. Spend the night? Here? The suggestion was impossible… utterly, completely impossible. Staying under the same roof as them would suffocate me. My skin already crawled with oppressive heat at the mere thought.
The walls of this mansion felt like they were closing in, pressing against my lungs until I could barely draw breath. No security risk, no dark road, no rational argument could convince me to willingly imprison myself in their palace for even a single night.
I forced my lips to stretch into a polite, professional smile, though my hands clutched the manila folder's edges so hard the cardboard crinkled beneath my fingers. The sound seemed deafening in the quiet study, a betrayal of the composure I desperately tried to project.
