The diner was a tomb. The weight of Liam’s ring on the counter was a gravitational pull, threatening to swallow her whole. Elara stared at it, the diamond’s brilliance mocking the cheap fluorescents and just waiting for me to remember. Kaelan’s final words echoed, twisting the knife.
She didn’t move for an hour. She was a statue of guilt, mourning the life she’d just watched walk out the door. The photos of her past self watched, silent witnesses to her present destruction.
Finally, a cold numbness seeped in. She gathered the photos into a neat stack, her movements robotic. She slipped the ring into her pocket—a lead weight against her thigh. She turned off the lights, locked the door with the skeleton key, and stepped into the chilling night.
Liam was not at the apartment. His closet w
