Cole graduated on a gray morning that felt too quiet for something that was supposed to be celebratory.

There were no cheers that mattered to him, no proud parents waving from the crowd, no sense of arrival. Just rows of chairs, polite applause, and a name called that sounded strangely distant—like it belonged to someone else.

Cole Reyes stood when it was his turn, straightened his robe, and walked across the stage with a calm that didn’t match the storm sitting in his chest.

He accepted the diploma with a nod. No smile. No pause.

From the audience, a few classmates clapped harder than the rest. Someone whistled. Someone whispered...