Her phone had beeped several times, and it had rung even more, but Calista’s thoughts were too crowded to bring herself to pick it up.

She sat in the café, gazing at her half-empty cup of coffee. The noise of the bustling café filled the air, a stark contrast to the chaos in her mind. She absentmindedly stirred the coffee, mesmerized by the swirling patterns, but the warmth offered little comfort to her frayed nerves.

Her mind kept drifting back to the events from a few hours ago. She was still in shock at the sheer intensity of Ranya’s anger. She had never seen him in such a state before,...