Aurora’s POV
The house was too quiet. Not the peaceful kind of quiet, but the kind that presses against your ears until your thoughts get loud. The kind that makes every breath feel like a confession.
Zayne stood by the window with his back to me, his shoulders stiff, his hands clenched like he was holding onto something invisible.
The late afternoon light cut him in half—one side bright, the other swallowed by shadow. It felt fitting. That was how he had always been to me. Half a man I knew. Half a stranger I married.
My heart beat so hard I was afraid he could hear it.
I had practiced this moment in my head a hundred times. Different words. Different tones. Screaming. Crying. Walking away without saying anything at all.
But when the moment came, only one question survived.
“Why d
