The night felt heavy, the silence stretching between Zander and me as we sat in his living room, the only sound the soft hum of the city outside the window.

A glass of wine sat untouched on the coffee table in front of us, the red liquid swirling in the glass as if mocking the stillness in the air. My hands were clenched, and despite the calm demeanor I tried to maintain, my insides were a tangled mess of anxiety and fear.

Zander looked at me across the room, his gaze intense, searching. He was waiting for me to say something, anything, to move the conversation forward. But I couldn’t....