Chapter 31

• The silence in the car stretched long after the engine started. We weren’t avoiding words. We were holding them. Letting them settle between us like dust after a storm.
• Julian kept his gaze ahead, one hand on the wheel, the other resting lightly on his thigh. The city blurred around us, streaks of soft light and movement, but inside the car, it felt still.
• “I keep thinking about how it used to feel,” I said quietly. “Walking into that building. Like I didn’t exist until someone else acknowledged me.”