Sophia
The waves were restless that evening, crashing hard against the shore as if echoing the storm inside me.
I stood at the edge of the veranda, the breeze tangling in my hair, and for a moment I wondered if the goddess herself was mocking me, reminding me of how fragile everything I thought I knew truly was.
Erick was coming.
The thought filled me with a strange mix of relief and dread. For days, I had been replaying our last call in my mind, weighing every word, every silence. When I had told him to come, I hadn’t spoken in anger alone.
No, I had spoken with resolve. This time, I would not cower behind silence or bury my grief beneath love.
This time, he would hear me.
The island was quiet tonight. My mother’s herbs still lingered faintly in the hallways, a ghostly scent that
