Morning comes softly with light—gentle and pale—slipping through the sheer curtains and brushing against my eyelids like a quiet question.
I woke up slowly, disoriented for half a second as my body felt heavy with unfamiliar comfort. The mattress beneath me was too soft while the sheets smell faintly of something clean and expensive and for a moment, memories of yesterday flooded in.
The engagement.
Leon.
I sat up abruptly as my one hand flew to my chest but the ring wasn’t there.
My heart stuttered—but this time it isn’t panic. I exhaled and leaned back against the pillows, rubbing my face with both hands. I remember carefully slipping the ring into my bag last night before bed, nesting it in the small velvet pouch like it was something fragile and something too important to risk in
