Clare POV
I needed to think. More than that, I needed space. Space from the suffocating perfection of this life I had somehow fallen into. A life that felt too good to be true, a life that seemed so smooth and calm—too calm. And the truth was, I wasn't sure if I was ready for this, this new version of life where everything seemed perfectly orchestrated and utterly... wrong.
I needed to think. Alone. This perfect little world, this well-orchestrated environment, felt more like a cage with every passing minute. I couldn't put my finger on it exactly, but something about it—it didn't feel real.
