The silence Lynda immediately felt as she woke up in Marcus's apartment this morning was wrong. Unlike the gentle, comforting quiet she once knew with Lukas, this one felt empty, unfinished, like a room after a party where the music had stopped too suddenly.

Marcus was already gone. She sat up slowly, the expensive sheets sliding down her arms. The apartment was beautiful. All sharp lines, glass walls, and expensive art she did not understand. Everything screamed success. But none of them felt ...