hin golden lines, soft but cold, as though the sun itsel

ho

pr

pa

the door. The cracked mug Nicole had once called her favorite. The fading photo

e middle of it

g they represented love, partnership, and belonging. She ha

It was not sharing.

sed against her,

uncomfortable

s cle

slowly towa

beneath her fingertips. The same password had been there for

' bir

ought fate had

not fate. It was foolishn

anym

and measured, then

a new p

inked up at

because she wanted to remember this feeling. The quiet, trembli

ngers

8

wn bi

ad beepe

s gra

rotection, not a boundary to keep others

," she whispered, so quietly the air itself seemed to

her, as if her words had rearranged t

just

also her

ng room again, scanning th

not with affection,

shoes, the cheap cologne, the tie he

linked against the glass, th

id no

or those who

moved be

had in

the box, placed it neatly by t

tems will be

ail ch

unts wer

s, literally and oth

filling the room. The steam fogged the window brief

e in years, the q

hea

lection stared back from the dark glass of the microwa

ot the same one who had died on a r

s shar

delib

dange

hone

ced at t

ge from

said he could not reach you y

was sweet, but Sia could hear the control beneath it, the

lowly and d

is fine. Just ma

hit

ts blinked al

ike what? You

screen for a mom

ll find out

the phone dow

loud. It was layered

need to stor

il they stood inside their own ruin, wo

oments, Sia l

nnoticed, unappreciated, doing the quiet

been grateful

understood i

the same polite smile, but her

Data. In

ttered. Every docume

not just

in kn

. Her fingers were steady. Her mind was razor sharp. Every keystr

smiled faintly, and asked a question about interna

impressed by

or structure, Sia. Ever

aid softly. "But

and walked away, leaving Si

par

gered, heavy

he paused in front of the door. The new

e lock clicked open wi

he air fe

d smiled to herself, not

just the

not about

eces of herself she had scattered at the fee

out over the city. Very soon, Adams and Nicole would be

ost pit

mo

she was building, slowly, quietly, meth

r coffee, her eyes glintin

softly behind her, sealin

ed d

n e

one careful, calcu