The next morning the house pretended nothing had shifted.
Helen made coffee. Julian kissed her temple as he reached past her for a mug. Ava moved through the kitchen with her usual composure. Oliver came downstairs already carrying his bag, answered Helen’s questions about his schedule in short complete sentences, and left for campus without looking at Lena longer than social minimum required.
Lena felt the absence of his attention like a bruise.
She got through her own morning classes by force. Every familiar stretch of campus carried the risk of another unwanted sighting—Oliver and Tessa between buildings, Oliver and Tessa on the library steps, Oliver and Tessa existing in public without the weight of the house on them. She hated how closely she tracked the possibility. She hated more
