I exhaled, picking up my phone. No messages from Katherine. She hadn’t called or even sent a simple text. Was she deliberately keeping her distance? Or was there something she was hiding from me? I didn’t know anymore. All I knew was that whatever we had seemed to be slipping through my fingers, and I was exhausted trying to hold it all together. I tossed the phone onto the bed and turned toward the window, letting the cold air settle my thoughts. If Katherine didn’t care enough to reach out, why should I be the one trying so hard? There’s only so much patience a person can have before it runs out. Restless, I rubbed my forehead, then found myself on my feet, quietly moving through the hallway toward Isabella’s room. My footsteps felt strangely deliberate, as if drawn there by something

