Hailey's POV
The snow started before we even left the highway.
At first it was gentle, almost deceptive—thin flakes drifting lazily across the windshield, soft enough to feel harmless. Within minutes, it thickened into something heavier, more deliberate, as if the sky itself had decided to close in around us.
Upstate New York didn't feel real.
The city fell away too quickly, lights thinning into darkness until the road narrowed into a single ribbon of asphalt cutting through endless trees. The woods pressed in from both sides, black and skeletal beneath the weight of snow, their branches bending like watchful spines.
Kingsley drove without speaking.
His hands were steady on the wheel, knuckles pale against the dark leather. The GPS guided us down roads that looked less
