ETHAN'S POV

I walked downstairs toward the living room where Sophia was already seated, the afternoon light slicing through the curtains and casting long, thin shadows across the rug. The house hummed with the ordinary sounds of a home kept clean for appearances — the soft tick of a clock on the mantel, the distant murmur of a television left on in another room. I took a seat next to her with a small, satisfied sigh and let the moment sit between us, heavy and deliberate.

“Today is quite ...