Chapter 21 He Returns Like He Never Left

• The hallway light was off when Ivy entered the penthouse that night. Only the faint gold glow from a lamp near the piano pushed back the dark. She had expected the quiet. Had prepared herself for it. But the moment she stepped inside, something in the air told her she wasn’t alone.
• She didn’t call out.
• Her keys rested in her palm. Her bag hung loosely at her side. The door clicked shut behind her, sealing the tension in place. She moved forward with careful steps, her heels muffled against the soft rug. She told herself she was imagining it. That it was just the echo of a memory curling back to haunt her after a day that already felt too full of ghosts.