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Chapter 24: The Coldest Winter

Author: Ann Lottimore
last update Last Updated: 2025-07-16 00:26:27

The snow fell in thick, slow spirals outside the frost-bitten window of the Vienna flat, painting the city in silence. The world beyond was white and muted, but inside the apartment, everything felt darker. Quieter. Still.

A single light flickered in the kitchen — yellow and weak, like it had given up fighting the cold. The apartment was small, barely enough for one person. The furniture was mismatched and tired, a couch with a tear down the side, a table with a crooked leg, and curtains that didn’t quite reach the floor. The radiator hissed but gave off little warmth. The only sound that filled the air was the ticking of a wall clock… and the occasional wail of a distant siren swallowed by snow.

Siena stood barefoot in the bathroom, one hand gripping the edge of the sink, the other resting lightly on her swollen belly. She wore a long grey t-shirt that hung loose over her thin frame, except where it stretched across the curve of her stomach — the only sign that life still bloomed ins
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