The night had long surrendered to silence.

Soren’s car sliced through the empty streets, the soft hum of the engine a quiet companion to the thoughts that refused to leave him alone. The city outside was nothing but blurred lights and shadows, yet his mind was miles away — tangled between the woman he had just left and the pieces of himself he no longer recognized.

For a man who had always believed emotion to be a weakness, this quiet ache inside him felt like rebellion.

He loosened ...