Chapter Twenty-Four
The moment I stepped away from him, something inside me settled.
Not violently.
Not like a storm finally breaking.
It was quieter than that.
Like a door closing softly behind me.
And once it shut—
I knew I couldn’t open it again.
“Ava.”
Ethan’s voice followed me.
Not loud.
Not demanding.
Just… there.
Still holding on.
I paused.
Not because I meant to.
But because something in me reacted.
A faint pull.
A memory.
A feeling that didn’t fully belong to who I was becoming.
“I said I’m not gone,” I murmured, my back still to him.
“You are,” he replied.
His voice wasn’t angry.
That would’ve been easier to ignore.
It was steady.
Certain.
And that made it harder.
“You’re just… not completely gone yet.”
That should’ve meant something.
It should’ve sha
