Maya stood in the dim corner of the basement parking lot, her fingers tightening around the strap of her handbag as she watched Rafael and Alyssa from afar. The two of them were talking in low voices near the exit, illuminated by the pale glow of a passing car. Even from where she stood, Maya could see the subtle way Rafael leaned in, the tense tilt of Alyssa’s shoulders, the unmistakable tension that bound their past together like an invisible chain.

A bitter sting spread through Maya’s chest.

So this was why Rafael had been distant.

So this was why his touches felt colder, why his attention had slipped from...