Alina’s POV
My breath hitched.
Right there—by the parking lot—stood my dad, his arm draped around a woman I’d never seen before. And not just any arm-around-the-shoulder hug. His hand rested low on her waist, and the way she leaned into him… it wasn’t innocent.
“Hey, are you okay?” Zayn’s voice broke through my shock, his tone lined with concern.
I swallowed hard. “What is my father doing with that woman?” The words scraped out of me, trembling. “Zayn, it—it can’t be what I think, right?”
He hesitated, his brows furrowing. “Alina… maybe it’s not. You should talk to him. It might be a misunderstanding.”
A misunderstanding.
Yes. It had to be. This was my dad, the man who still left love notes on the fridge for Mom. He wouldn’t—he couldn’t—
“Let’s go,” I said, forcing calm into my voi
