Every beginning starts with a small, steady sip of courage.

—-

Lily’s POV

I yawned, the motion stretching sore muscles that protested every inch. My body felt like it had been dragged through fire—raw, tight, aching. My throat scratched with dryness, as though I’d wandered a desert with no end, no water, and far too many regrets.

Sunlight filtered into the room, golden and warm, far too cheerful for the heaviness draped over me.

If only my life could feel as bright as this.

The night clawed back at me. The fight. His voice. The way the walls closed in. The way I had felt everything and nothing, all at...