Mila
The first thing Mila did was stop answering his messages.
Not dramatically. Not with a declaration. Just… silence.
She told herself it was necessary. That she needed space to think without Adrian Black’s presence curling around her thoughts like smoke. That every conversation with him pulled her deeper into a world she hadn’t chosen and emotions she wasn’t ready to carry.
So when her phone buzzed with his name, she flipped it face down.
When she spotted his car at the corner of her street one evening, she turned the other way and took the long route home.
When she felt his attention—because she always felt it—she pretended she didn’t.
It was harder than she expected.
The city felt louder without him nearby. Sharper. Less anchored.
She hated that.
At the art center, she threw
