Esther had meant to drive straight to campus. That was the plan simple, practical, and of course ordinary. But halfway there, a sudden tug in her chest urged her to turn the wheel elsewhere. Home. She couldn’t explain it, only that the thought of changing into fresh clothes and grabbing a few of her books suddenly felt necessary, grounding.
She pulled Gaara’s Range Rover into the small parking lot near her boarding house. There was another car already there but she didn’t give it much thought. Her mind was fixed on small, mundane things: a change of clothes, a notebook, a breath of familiarity before the day swept her back into chaos.
But the moment she opened the door to her room, her breath caught.
Someone was inside.
A man sat in the small living space, his figure calm, almost carel
