The city swallowed them back up like it had never let them go. Monday morning Amelia walked into the office same as always—hair pinned neat, blouse tucked, smile polite for the receptionist. No one asked where she’d been over the weekend. No one noticed the faint purple bloom of a hickey peeking just above her collar if she turned her head wrong. She sat at her desk, opened her laptop, and felt the faint ache between her thighs like a secret heartbeat.
Nothing changed.
Everything did.
She stopped checking dating apps. Deleted them without a second thought. There was no room for anyone else. No space for small talk over drinks or awkward goodnight kisses. Victor, Damien, and Lucas filled every empty corner of her life—not with flowers or promises, but with texts at odd hours, hands that
