The morning sun crept through the sheer curtains, spilling soft golden light across Claire’s bedroom. The air was quiet—too quiet—as if the entire world had paused to hold its breath.
Claire stirred.
Her eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the pale glow of morning.
And then she felt it.
The warmth beside her. The subtle pressure of an arm draped across her waist. The steady rise and fall of breath against the back of her neck.
Brad.
She stilled. Her heart began to pound, not from fear, but from the overwhelming, gut-wrenching realization of what had happened.
She remembered everything.
The door slamming after she’d kicked him out. The silence that followed—loud and suffocating. The glass of wine she never finished. The way her hands had trembled when she picked up her phone.
The mes
