Ashtine’s POV
The silence in my apartment felt too loud. Even after Rich left to be with Solène—his ex who suddenly resurfaced like a ghost from the past—I tried to convince myself I was okay. I wasn’t.
I sat by the window, fingers wrapped around a cup of warm chamomile tea. My heart, however, wasn’t nearly as calm.
“He said he needed to be there for her,” I whispered into the stillness.
But who’s going to be there for me?
The worst part wasn’t that he left. It was that I understood. Solène had cried. Played the helpless card. Claimed she was abused. And Rich, being who he is, couldn’t walk away from someone in pain.
But pain had layers. Some of us just got better at hiding them.
The next day at work, things were colder. Or maybe I was just colder. I smiled, I laughed—maybe even lou
