The penthouse, once a bastion of controlled elegance, had devolved into a haze of midday disarray.
Sunlight slanted through the half drawn blinds, casting erratic shadows across the living room.
Julian started with coffee after Eleanor's departure, the unsigned divorce papers still splayed on the kitchen island like a taunt, but by noon, the burn of scotch had taken over, each sip a futile anchor against the spiraling panic.
"She's leaving. Really leaving." The elevator's chime from hours ago echoed in his mind, her final Goodbye a knife twist.
Sophia had tried to intervene, her pregnancy's fragility a quiet plea, but he brushed her off, retreating to the sofa with bottle in hand, the city's hum below a mocking indifference.
Sophia padded in from the hallway, her robe loose over th
