AVA'S POV
My phone buzzed twice before I could press decline.
Ethan's name flashed on the screen like a siren call I couldn't escape. I stared at it for a heartbeat longer, then swiped to silence it and turned back toward the window.
Rain pattered against the glass like steady percussion, a soft rhythm that matched the storm building inside my chest.
Across the city skyline, everything was gray, muted, blurred, distorted. Just like my emotions.
We hadn't spoken properly since the board meeting blow-up. He'd stormed out after defending me, something he never did in front of his power-hungry partners and then..., nothing. A ghost. A silence too heavy for newlyweds, even contracted ones.
I took a breath, rubbing my fingers together to chase the cold from my bones. I hadn't slept. Not really. My body had dozed. My mind had
spun.
The truth was beginning to feel heavier than the lie we started with.
Someone knocked.
