The next dawn arrived too gently.
Too soft.
Too warm.
Too kind for a morning that carried fear in its bones.
Lila woke to light creeping through the sheer curtains, washing the stone walls in pale gold. The kind of sunlight that made you believe the world could still be kind, even when you knew better.
For a few moments, she allowed herself to exist only here.
In warmth.
In breath.
In the quiet rhythm beneath her hand as the child inside her shifted lazily into wakefulness.
A soft sigh left her lips.
Caleb was already gone.
She didn’t panic.
He had left behind his warmth in the bed, his scent threaded through the sheets, his presence lingering like a promise instead of an absence. He hadn’t slipped out because he couldn’t stay.
He had left because he was needed.
She pushed he
