The rain came without warning that morning soft, steady, and strangely comforting. It drummed against the glass walls of the apartment, the kind of rhythm that wrapped the city in a blanket of quiet. Violet sat by the window with her mug of tea, her knees tucked beneath her, watching the world blur behind a silver veil.

Bryan had already left early for a meeting, but he’d left a note by her mug in his familiar handwriting: “Don’t skip breakfast. You think better when you eat.”

A small smile tugged at her lips as she read it again. He always knew when her mind would drift too far into the...