was never hers.
Instead I said the thing that mattered most.
“I was counting on being safe.”
That one landed last.
She took one step back. Then another. Not in anger now. In recalculation. In the quiet beginning of consequences.
“I need time,” she said.
“So do I.”
She nodded once. A stiff, uncertain movement, almost formal. Then she turned, walked down the continue reading …
