Julian froze, his body stiffening as if an unseen wire had cinched tight around him.

Behind him, Rose's sobs wove through the still air, soft yet piercing, each note unfurling like fine threads searing into his chest.

"Julian," she murmured, her voice a fragile thing, drenched in sorrow. "Life in Geneva was so... unbearably lonely."

She paused, the silence weighted with fragility, before continuing. "I used to stand on the balcony of my hospital room, ...