Isabelle’s POV
The sky was a soft gray when the news broke.
Muted clouds hung low over the city like a whisper. The rain hadn’t started yet, but the air smelled like it would. I stood barefoot in my living room, wrapped in a robe, coffee cooling in my hands.
The television was on, but the volume was low. I didn’t need the anchors’ voices. I could read the scrolling headlines at the bottom of the screen.
“BREAKING: Walter Blackwood Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison. Kaia Whitmore to Serve 24 Years Without Parole.”
I blinked once. Slowly.
No smile curved my lips. No breath of triumph escaped my chest.
Instead, I felt something else.
Stillness.
Not peace. Not quite.
But a kind of silence that didn’t scream anymore.
The war was over.
⸻
Stephanie arrived a few minutes later.
