Evelyn’s POV

Evelyn sat at the edge of her bed, her knees drawn up, arms wrapped tight around herself. The late afternoon light entered through the tall windows, painting the room in gold, but it brought her no comfort.

For hours, she had tried to distract herself — folding laundry that had already been done, rereading the same page of a book without seeing the words, even pacing the long corridor outside her room. But nothing worked. The stillness pressed in from every corner, ...