Serenity
I stared at Claire as if she were a mirage, the weight of her presence suddenly magnifying in the room. The door hung half-open behind her, the cold air from the hallway rushing into the warmth of the space, carrying with it an eerie tension.
She didn’t look at me the way someone would when they were simply stepping into a room. She looked at me like she was weighing me, measuring the distance between us, calculating what she could say next to undermine whatever fragile thing I had built.
Luca had stepped back, his posture stiff, his eyes flashing with something between frustration and resignation. He didn’t say anything immediately, but I could see it on his face—he didn’t want her here either.
The silence stretched between the three of us, thick and uncomfortable.
“Did I in
