DAMIEN
.
.
The word felt heavy on my tongue, thick with the dust of time and disuse.
Months since she walked out that door, her eyes empty.
That goddamn look.
It was etched behind my eyelids, burned into the back of my skull, a constant, low-grade ache that had become the background noise of my life.
Months since I’d stood in this penthouse, this gilded cage that was supposed to be my peace, and watched her choose to leave, watched her walk away towards a freedom I couldn't give her, not in the way she needed.
I walked through the silent, perfectly curated space of the kitchen, the polished surfaces gleaming under the recessed lights.
It felt different now.
Not calm, like Leila had seen it, but sterile, like life itself had been scrubbed away, leaving behind only the expe
