Chapter 158. Her Pain

Aurora’s POV

I wasn’t able to sleep at all last night. It was like every time I closed my eyes, Ashton’s words would haunt me, creeping into my thoughts with a suffocating grip.

“Abandon all hope, Aurora. It’s your worst enemy here,” he had told me. His voice echoed in my mind, relentless, pulling me deeper into a pit of uncertainty. But deep down, I knew that wasn’t something I could do. I couldn’t just give up. Not when Caleb and Caroline—hell, all the people who cared about me—were still out there somewhere. I had to fight, I had to find a way out.

The skeleton of my mother, sitting before me in its cold, lifeless state, was the only thing that seemed real in the chaos. Strangely, I no longer felt the weight of fear pressing against my chest as I stared at it. The fear had faded, replaced by something else, something eerily calm. It was as if her presence still lingered in the air, in the stillness of the room.

I reached out, my fingers brushing aga