CHAPTER 29: FIRST NIGHT IN THE NEW HOUSE
The house grew quiet in a way I wasn’t used to, as if it were holding its breath, waiting for us to decide what kind of life we would build inside it. I stood in the middle of the living room long after the children had run off to claim their rooms, my fingers brushing lightly against the back of the couch, the edge of the table, the smooth wall beside me. Everything felt new, untouched, and strangely fragile, as though one wrong move could shatter the illusion of peace we had just stepped into.
Paul walked past me carrying one of the last boxes, his movements slower now, less guarded. I noticed it immediately. For years, he had moved like a man expecting danger at every corner, quick, alert, always calculating. But now, there was something softe
