It had been four days since I walked out of Brayden’s company and into a life that felt… quieter.

The apartment still smelled faintly of paint and new furniture, but it was beginning to feel like home. Clara had taken over the kitchen with her cooking experiments, and I’d finally learned how to sleep without flinching at every creak in the night.

For the first time in a long time, my mornings didn’t start with a schedule or an Alessia yelling, just the sound of the city humming ...