The number meant nothing at first. Alex stared at the screen, pen still moving across her notes out of habit more than focus. The digits …
Buried layers
Chapter 8: Dear Mom and Dad
The drive home from Charleston was quiet. The house came into view slowly, familiar in a way that felt strange now. The porch was light …
Chapter 7: The arrival
The Arrival The propeller plane shook the entire way down. Not violently—just enough to remind you that staying in the air was a negotiation. I …
Chapter 6: Graduation Day
The morning felt too clean for something to be wrong. Sunlight cut sharply across the rows of neat, identical, white padded chairs catching on polished …
Chapter 5: Will
It had been a week. Seven days, almost to the hour, since Ellie had stood in his apartment and said she was done. Will remembered …
Chapter 4: The Apartment
The apartment still smelled like her…Earl Grey. Vanilla. Not perfume. Not anything obvious. Just… Ellie. Paper and something faintly earthy from the cleaning spray she …
Chapter3: The Cafe
The Cafe Alex almost didn’t come. The flight had been hell, and all she wanted was a shower and sleep. But Ellie had submitted her …
Chapter 2: The Airport
11:42 a.m. The screen didn’t blink. It didn’t celebrate. It didn’t hesitate. Submission successful. That was it. Four years reduced to a single line of …
Chapter 1: Maya’s letter
The plane hadn’t leveled out yet when I unfolded the letter. The seatbelt sign was still on. The engine roared louder than I expected, a …
Prologue
Will Aiken did not believe in losing. When Ellie left, he told himself it was temporary. A phase. A miscalculation. Something she would correct once …