Mia – POV
I stood in the center of my room, arms crossed tight against my chest like a barrier to everything pressing in on me. The walls felt smaller than I remembered. The silence was too loud. I kept pacing, each step matching the beat of the fury thrumming in my chest.
Ian. That man had the audacity to look at me like I was a stranger—cold, dismissive, like the past few months didn’t matter. I left the state for a damn business deal, not a vacation. I was building something—us, or so I thought. And now I was back, treated like I’d betrayed him by breathing in another zip code.
Ungrateful bastard.
“Mia? What’s wrong?” My mother’s voice floated in from the balcony like an unwanted breeze.
I rolled my eyes, dragging my fingers through my hair, tugging at the roots just to release the
