(GILBERT'S POV)
My world had crumbled.
I didn't know how else to describe it. The ground beneath my feet had simply given way, and I was falling into an abyss that had no bottom, no light, no hope of escape.
I ran.
I didn't know where I was going. I just knew I couldn't stay there—couldn't stand in that crowd of celebrating people, watching the joy on everyone's faces, forcing a smile that felt like it was tearing my face apart. I couldn't watch Ethan hold Vera's hand. I couldn't watch him look at her like she was the sun and the moon and every star in the sky.
I couldn't watch him look at her the way I had always dreamed he would look at me.
The adjoining house was one of several connected to the main mansion in Blue's estate. I burst through the door, my chest heaving, my vision blurred with tears I refused to let fall. Not yet. Not where anyone could see.
