Chapter Eighty-Seven: Ceremony Part Three

Kiara POV: As the door closes behind Aiden with an almost palpable finality, I turn to Riley, who is hunched over, her whole body quivering. Her face, framed by her dishevelled brown hair, is marred by the unmistakable flush of humiliation and heartbreak. Each tear that falls from her eyes seems to carry the weight of a lost dream, of a love painfully unrequited. I catch her eye for a moment, and in that brief connection, I see a whirlwind of regret, guilt, and desperation. "I'm so sorry, Kiara," She sobs, her voice a shaky timbre reverberating through the tension-saturated room. She falls into my arms, her frame trembling like a leaf in a storm. I feel her wet tears soak through the fabric of my dress, each droplet a physical manifestation of her despair. "I messed up. I messed up so badly, and this isn't what I wanted. Goddess, what have I done?" I hold her, not because I've forgiven her, but because I know the hellish turmoil that love, especially unreturned love, can wreak. My fing