Aria POV

The air shifted before I even lifted my head. He filled the doorway like a storm swallowing the horizon, shoulders squared, dark eyes burning with something I couldn’t name.

The sob caught in my throat, sharp and jagged. My face was still wet, raw, my hands trembling as they clutched the blanket. I wanted to wipe the evidence away, to erase the weakness Vanessa had dragged out of me, but there was no time. He saw me,broken, crumbling,and there was no undoing it.

For one fragile heartbeat, silence stretched. His gaze cut across the room, tracing the trail Vanessa’s presence had left behind,the faint scent of her perfume...