The city outside Isabelle’s window buzzed with restless life—blaring car horns, the distant wail of sirens, and the steady hum of evening conversations rising from the sidewalks below. Neon lights flickered against rain-slick pavement, painting the night in fleeting shades of amber and blue. Yet inside her apartment, the world was painfully still. The hush was almost oppressive, broken only by the soft, rhythmic tapping of her fingernails against the edge of her phone. On the screen, a single name glowed back at her: Sebastian.
Her heart drummed in her chest—each beat a question. Each question was a weight she couldn’t ignore.
Could they really do that? Did she want to do that?
And what if, what if it all collapsed?
The memory of Emma’s warning clung to her like a shadow:
“If it goes
