Aria walked slowly through her studio, the distant thrum of the city intruding once more like a buzzing in her brain. The stillness of the cabin lingered on her skin, and her fingers ached for something familiar-something solid.
She opened her camera case and started unloading, each item triggering a memory she wasn't ready to abandon. The photographs were the final ones she removed.
She spread them on her desk and started sifting through them; her eyes fell on the unguarded moments she had documented. Mia laughing, a gleam in her eyes, her head thrown back. Ethan caught mid-laugh, one arm flung jokingly round Mia as she struggled to get free on the carpet of the living room, both of them wrapped in blankets and laughter. Aria smirked.
“She said there’s nothing there,” she muttered, tap
