MIA'S POV
Warm light pressed against my eyelids, soft and steady, a golden haze that seemed to hold the world at bay. For a long moment, I didn't move. I didn't even want to. The stillness felt safe, an illusion, maybe, but I wanted to hold on to it, to let it wrap around me like a fragile shield against everything waiting beyond the quiet.
When I finally opened my eyes, the room was quiet, the curtains drawn halfway to let in streaks of gold evening. Another end of the day trapped in his world.
My body ached in strange places, not from pain but from exhaustion that went deeper than sleep could fix. I turned on my side, clutching the pillow. The faint scent of him still clung to the sheets, so musky, so overwhelming, and it made my stomach twist. I wanted to bury my face and scream, to
