Chapter .165 Things We Cannot Escape From

Elona's POV

The message came in just as I was tying my shoelaces. I stared at my phone longer than I should have, my fingers were frozen mid-motion, the lace slipping through my grip.

Tristan: Rowan Patel is dead.

The words didn’t feel real. They sat there on the screen like something misplaced, like they belonged to another life, another story. It didn't feel like it belonged to mine and Tristan's story. My chest tightened as I read the next message.

Tristan: I will be assigned a new attorney. Don’t worry about me. Focus on yourself.

Don’t worry about me.

I let out a quiet breath, but it didn’t ease anything inside me. If anything, it made it worse. Because I knew Tristan, and I knew that when he told someone not to worry, it usually meant he was alre