NADIA’S POV
The bell above the gallery door rings, soft and harmless, the kind of sound I usually don’t even notice anymore.
But this time, something in me reacts before I even look up, and it’s stupid, it shouldn’t matter, it’s just a customer.
Still, my chest tightens, just a little, just enough to make me pause mid-step, my fingers stilling over the frame I was adjusting.
Get it together.
I straighten slowly, forcing a breath in, then out, like that’s going to fix whatever the hell this feeling is.
“Welcome,” I start, already turning—
And then I see her, and everything in me goes still, not dramatic or sharp, just still, and of course… of course it’s her.
My stomach drops, slow and heavy, not sudden, not violent, just enough to make it hard to breathe properly as I take her in,
