MELLISA'S POV

After the call with Xavier, I sat in my living room, staring at the black screen of my phone as if it might somehow offer an explanation. The silence in the room was deafening, amplifying the growing discomfort in my chest.

Why did he hang up like that?

Why did he sound so distant?

My thoughts chased each other in circles, refusing to give me peace. He hadn’t been himself all day, and now this? The short responses, the way he brushed me off—as though I wasn’t even ...