The shift was quiet at first.
Bella saw it when Julian’s calendar became crammed with pre-dawn mornings and late nights. In that way, he didn’t shamble for hours in shared spaces, didn’t loiter in doorways as if deciding whether to stay or leave. The penthouse still exuded hushed luxury, you could say, but something essential had changed — the way a room changes when a window gets closed.
He was still kind. Still attentive.
Just… careful.
Bella did her best not to take it personally. She scolded herself for imagining things, interpreting ordinary behavior as if it were fraught with abstract meaning. After all, Julian was busy. Important. Engaged.
Engaged.
The word had an ugly ring.
She hung out more in the upstairs studio, working herself into her eyesight straining and sending her
