Nina’s POV
I stopped sleeping properly after Richard Wolfe came to my house.
Every small sound outside made me alert. Every unknown number felt dangerous. Even walking Leo to school started feeling different, like somebody somewhere was watching too closely.
Richard had done exactly what he intended to do.
He reminded me that no matter how many years passed, he still believed he controlled the direction of my life.
But this time something inside me refused to break the way it did five years ago.
Maybe because I wasn’t alone anymore.
Back then, I only had myself to protect.
Now I have Leo.
And that changed everything.
I was standing behind the bookstore counter trying to organize invoices when Julian walked in holding two coffee cups.
“You didn’t answer my calls yesterday,” he sa
