(Aria)
The sunlight streaming through the mansion’s high windows did little to ease the frustration curling in my chest. I had agreed—begrudgingly—to stay put. But agreeing didn’t mean I would do nothing. Sitting here, staring at the lavish walls, I felt like a caged bird. The mansion was beautiful, yes, but every corner reminded me of what I had lost, of the chaos Luca brought into my life, and of the gallery I couldn’t go back to…at least not yet.
I paced my new room, the soft greys and muted tones both comforting and suffocating. My hands itched for the brushes, the canvases, the life I’d known before the darkness swallowed everything. I muttered to myself, “There has to be a way. I can’t just sit here.”
Then it came to me, clear and sharp: if I couldn’t go to the gallery, the galler
