Chapter 79

• We returned to the city before noon. The mist from the coast still clung faintly to the sleeves of my jacket, and my shoes carried traces of sand I had not wanted to shake off. I felt different stepping into the boutique again, like my body remembered something the air could not. My fingers were steadier. My thoughts quieter. For the first time in a long while, I was not carrying all of it alone.
• Julian unlocked the front door while I held a paper bag from the bakery near the inn, the scent of fresh bread still warm between my palms. I had imagined we would come in and ease into the day slowly, check in with Claudia, review the usual legal updates, maybe even hang a few new sketches near the design wall. But something felt off the moment we stepped inside.
• The lights were on. Too many of them. Claudia had a habit of using only the ones above her desk. But the whole space was lit now, as though someone had needed to see everything all at once. The air felt tight, pulled too thin.