Morning arrived without permission.
Soft sunlight slipped through the curtains of Elena’s apartment, spreading across the hardwood floor as though nothing extraordinary had happened the night before.
For a few peaceful seconds after opening her eyes, she forgot.
Then reality returned with quiet precision.
The divorce papers.
Ethan.
The anonymous letter.
The white camellia.
She closed her eyes again.
Not because she believed she could change anything.
Only because she wanted one more heartbeat before facing the life waiting for her.
When she finally sat up, a dull ache spread through her neck. Sometime during the night, she had fallen asleep on the sofa without changing out of the oversized sweater she had pulled on after returning home. A folded blanket had slipped halfway to th
