My fingers dug into the fabric of my dress, clutching at anything to ground myself.
Fear clawed at my throat.
Made it hard to breathe. Hard to think. Hard to stay conscious.
The cold pressed deeper.
Then—
A sound.
Muffled.
From the other side of the door.
“Elena.”
My entire body went still.
The voice—
Low. Careful. Almost hesitant.
My head snapped toward the door, my breath catching sharply in my throat.
For a moment—
Hope.
A fragile, dangerous flicker.
“Vincenzo?” I whispered, barely able to form the word.
The cold pressed harder, distorting everything, making the world feel distant and unreal.
But that voice—
It was real.
Someone was there.
My chest tightened painfully.
“Vincenzo—!” I tried again, louder this time, desperation surging through me. “Please—!”
Another contraction hit mid-cry.
I doubled over with a strangled gasp, gripping my stomach as pain shot through my body.
“Ah—!”
The sound echoed in the frozen room.
I sucked in a sharp breath, forcing myself upright again, my voice trembling but urgent.
“Help me—please!”
My hands shook as I pressed one against the door, as if I could reach through it.
