(Scarlett’s POV)
Lily looks up at me, eyes wide. I walk over and kneel beside her, brushing her curls back from her face. She hands me a sprinkle-covered cupcake, her small fingers sticky.
“For you,” she says.
And God, it wrecks me.
I kiss the top of her head. “Thank you, Habibti.”
Behind me, I hear the soft jingle of the bakery bell as the door swings open.
And then closes.
They’re gone.
Just like that.
I don’t cry. Not this time. There’s nothing left in me to mourn.
I sit back at the table with Lily, helping her finish decorating her cupcake. Her little hands keep dropping sprinkles everywhere, but I don’t mind. It’s messy. It’s real. It’s ours.
The past may be burned to the ground, but I’ve still got something worth fighting for.
(Third POV)
The air is warm, thick with the
