Alina’s POV
I chose to believe in light, not because darkness was gone, but because I had learned how to carry hope through it. And in that choice, I felt stronger than I ever had before.
The morning unfolded like a secret slowly revealed, pale sunlight spilling through the curtains and warming the quiet corners of the beach house.
I lay awake for a long time, listening to the waves beyond the window, letting their rhythm anchor me in the present.
There was a calm inside me now that once felt impossible, a steady breath where fear used to live. I rose carefully, not wanting to wake Leo, and stepped onto the porch to greet the day.
The air was cool, tinged with salt and possibility. I wrapped my arms around myself and watched the horizon glow, thinking about how far we had come.
Ev
