The voice note ended, and silence filled the kitchen again. A silence that was somehow louder than Enzo's voice in her ears.
Amelia stared at the screen, unmoving.
Come back.
Just that. Just those two words. Spoken with a measured calm that sounded like control dressed in softness. It didn’t ask, it didn’t plead. It expected.
Expected her to return as if nothing had happened.
As if he hadn’t abandoned her with nothing but bruises on her body and questions in her heart.
She felt her stomach twist with the ache of knowing—knowing she once would’ve dropped everything and obeyed. Because that voice, his voice, was once her lifeline. It had given her something to hold onto when the world felt empty.
But now? Now it felt like a chain.
She slid the phone across the table until it hit the
