She looked up, and the moment her eyes met mine, she stilled.
“Liora?” she asked gently, her voice the only soft thing in the room.
All I could hear was my heart in my ears.
She stood slowly and crossed the space between us, placing a hand on my arm. “What happened?”
I opened my mouth to respond, to explain, but no sound came out. Instead, something cracked in my chest, and I felt it, the wet heat behind my eyes, the unmistakable sting of tears building despite everything I was trying to hold back.
I hadn’t cried in years.
Not since my mother died. Not since the last time I’d felt this alone.
Mia said nothing else, just pulled me into a quiet, grounding hug that I didn’t know I needed until I was in it.
The first tear slipped down my cheek without permission. Then another.
And ano
