Alice's POV
The sound of the city reached me before the sunlight did distant sirens, murmuring engines, and the rhythm of a world already deciding who would win today and who would bleed for it.
I sat up in the hotel bed slowly, the silk sheets falling from my shoulders like a secret I hadn’t decided to share, my body still humming with the strange clarity that comes from choosing peace over performance.
Caleb had already left.
Of course, he had.
He’d left a note two words scribbled neatly on hotel stationery: “Thank you.”
Not call me, not see you soon, not a possessive claim dressed in false affection.
Just gratitude.
Uncomplicated. Unapologetic. Undemanding.
I showered in silence, brushed my hair until it gleamed like something sharp and deliberate, then pulled on a navy-blue su
