The second morning in the penthouse dawned bright and unforgiving. Evelyn woke to sunlight pouring through the large windows of her room, two doors down from Damien’s master suite. She lay still for a long moment, listening to the silence. No creaking floors from her old Brooklyn house. No distant sound of her father making coffee or her mother humming in the kitchen. Just the faint hum of the city far below and the sterile quiet of luxury.
She showered quickly, dressed in comfortable clothes, and stepped out to explore more of the penthouse in daylight. The space felt even larger now. She wandered through the open living area, trailed her fingers along the cool marble kitchen island, and paused at the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Central Park in the distance. Everything was perfe
