Chapter 141

• By the time the kettle clicked off, I already knew I wouldn’t be answering any calls today. The voices from the night before were still in my head — not the words themselves, but the tones, the implications, the way the air had felt heavy when Julian told me about the investor. There was a time I would have reacted immediately, throwing all my energy into figuring out how to confront it. This morning, I realized I didn’t want to give them that much of me.
• The kitchen felt still. I sat with my coffee for longer than usual, staring at the steam curling upward, letting my thoughts settle. There were many ways to win an argument, but the one that mattered most was not having to enter it at all. If they wanted to pull me into the noise, then maybe the real work was in turning my back to it and building something they couldn’t touch.
• At the boutique later, the day moved slower than usual. Claudia was sorting invoices, the hum of the old printer filling the space between our movements. Simone was trimming fabric in the back, her scissors making that satisfying slice through the cotton. I stood in the doorway between them, holding onto the idea that had been forming since morning.