RA'

Years

ould have s

ty outside the apartment window, and I could see her

ath me on the couch, staring blankly at the steam rising from my

you find some kind of peace," Sele

uld break you like that-if I'd known what he'd do, El

nymore. Weariness, yes- a deep, bone-deep tiredness that time hadn't er

," Selene muttered, her g

my elbows. Manhattan light streamed in through the window, casting a gol

lurred together, slipping through my

anything at all, when each day is just anothe

voice trembled, and I hated how fragile it sounded, how raw the pain still w

her hand softly on my knee- a small, steady anchor in the chaos of my mind. "Of course, s

t need to know. Lucian saw to that. He cut me loose from her so

deafening- heavy with all the things we didn'

anhattan, fresh off the subway, still reeling

jarring shock to the throbbing quiet that had taken up

ent Selene had leased for me, I cried on the floor until my eyes w

er of resignation. No hesitation, no second thoughts.

Lucian's name was still emblazoned on the building, and I wanted nothing

, that's what I tried to tell myself, e

ion at a tech company, one where no one knew

en weekends, whatever it took to keep my

n endless stream of achievements, all of which silenced the pain for a little w

row crept in, unannounced, like an approaching wave that I never saw

echoing. Every time I heard the name "Nora"- a name that us

the burn behind my eyes and keep going- keep working, keep livin

"But I think I was more angry at myself. For thinking he would fight for us

d gently, trying to give him the benefit of the d

sharp with the weight of all my

the thoughts that had been festering in my heart for years,

he would call one day. Maybe he'd want to explain, or

." My throat tightened, and I struggled to swallow past

a lot." Selene exhaled, her hand squeezing my

with tears- but I had promised myself, s

osen to cut me out of his life, out o

e tears threatening to spill. "That she's gone. That he made sure I'd no longer

glanced down at the city below- a sea of people, all with their own lives, thei

t ever think you're not enough. Because that's never true

ing as I whispered, the words breaking on a b

, the city humming around us, the s

ybe Nora would one day come looking for me. M

uilt with my own hands, brick by brick, even when

enough- at

get some work done, anything to dist

d, the sound of the keypads suddenl

y chest hadn't gone away; it had just learned to hide under ro

he pho

it, telling myself it was probably spam, or someone fr

e button- but something, a gut feeling, a flicker of hope I

el

le

my patience alre

y that made my breath hitch and my heart ache, a voice I

lo

y grasp. Years of silence, years of pain, years of pretending I didn't care- and now

forcing the words out,

cia