Chapter 95

• By the time I stepped off the curb, the air had cooled. Not enough to sting, just enough to make me pull my coat tighter. The city felt quieter than usual, like even it was tired of keeping up appearances. I walked without checking my phone. I did not hail a car. I simply let the quiet stretch around me as I moved through the city, one block at a time, not rushing to explain where I had been.
• There was no trace of Roman’s voice left in my ears. Not his rehearsed regrets, not his warnings dressed as concern. Just the sound of my footsteps steady against the pavement. I had not thought walking away from him would feel like anything significant. I had expected anger, maybe a sharp sense of finality. But what I felt was something softer. There was no weight. No ache. Only the clean, unfamiliar calm of something that no longer had its hold on me.
• By the time I reached the building, I saw Julian already waiting at the entrance. He was leaning against the doorway, hands tucked into his coat, face tipped slightly toward the sky like he had been watching the clouds move above the city without rushing them. He did not look worried. He did not look angry. He just looked like someone who had decided not to walk away.