Alina’s POV
The past still whispered but it no longer screamed.
Inside the beach house, life had found a fragile balance. Sebastian cooked. I gardened in the small patch behind the house. Leo collected shells and named each one like it had a story.
We were not a family.
But we were becoming something close to peace.
Sebastian had started walking Leo to the small local school down the road. The teachers didn’t know our history, and for that, I was grateful. To them, Leo was just a bright boy with too many questions and a talent for drawing dragons.
The first time Sebastian returned from school drop-off, he was smiling really smiling.
“He asked if I’d come again tomorrow,” he said softly, like the words mattered more than he wanted to admit.
“They matter,” I replied.
So did he.
Not
