Elena’s POV

I woke before the alarm.

For a few seconds the ceiling above me was only white plaster and the soft gray of early light. My body felt heavy in the way it always did after a night of thin sleep, limbs reluctant, mind still half-caught in the last dream I could not remember. Then the knowledge arrived, quiet and complete.

Today I was meeting Mr. Nik’s family.

The thought settled in my chest with the weight of something solid. I lay still, staring upward, and let the reality of it expand until it filled the quiet room. The engagement ring rested on my finger, cool at first then...