“Evelyn… you didn’t come here just to escape. You came here to return to yourself.”

The voice was soft, yet sharp—like a brush cutting through a blank canvas. Evelyn looked up from her unfinished sketch and met the eyes of the older man before her—Rafael Moretti, a renowned artist from Italy and now her mentor in the Florence residency program.

She gave a slow nod, unable to say anything yet.

It had been two weeks since she arrived in this city. Every morning, she walked down narrow cobbled alleys toward the studio, where artists from around the world worked and learned side by side. Quiet, cold Florence was a stark...