INICIAR SESIÓNSADEWhen they announced the final exam, my hands went cold, not the kind of cold you shake off. The kind that settles deep and stays.Madame Valée stood at the front of the lab, straight-backed as always, eyes moving over us like she could already see who would fail and who would succeed. The room smelled like nerves and alcohol wipes; nobody was speaking. It felt like we were holding our breath. “This is your last exam,” she said. “There will be no retakes. No mercy grading.” Someone behind me let out a slow breath. “You will create a scent that explains your life. Not a moment. Not a feeling. Your life. How it began. How it changed. How it broke. And how you think it's going to end.” My pen slipped from my fingers and clattered onto the table.My life?MY life?! My throat tightened.Around me, chairs shifted. People whispered.“That’s insane.” “How do you even bottle that?” “She’s cruel.”I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t.Because my life wasn’t something you summarized neatly
KROSS I didn’t slam the file shut.I couldn’t.I sat there with it open on the desk, pages spread, as if they weighed more than paper. The lamp above me hummed softly, the room smelled like dust, bleach, and that sharp hospital-clean scent that never really leaves records, no matter how old they are. Smell I've become used to. The medical records were clear. Crystal clear. No mystery. Just straight to the point, no sugarcoating. This was the kind of honesty I liked, but right now it scared me. Long-term damage caused by stress. Malnutrition. Untreated infections.I read it again.And again.My jaw tightened until it hurt.“So this is it,” I muttered to no one, my words echoing in the heavy room. This was the truth Sade didn’t know. The truth I had been chasing across countries, hospitals, dead ends, and silence. The truth that had followed me into my sleep and crawled into my chest every time I looked at her.Her mother didn’t just disappear. She didn’t just “get sick”; She was
SADEI didn’t sleep after Kross left.I tried. I lay there staring at the ceiling, listening to the silence he left behind. The house felt wrong without his weight, without his presence filling the rooms. Everything felt hollow, like air after something important had been pulled out.He didn’t explain.That was the part that hurt the most.Kross had always been blunt with me. Painfully honest. Even when the truth was ugly or heavy, he never softened it. He never hid. That was one of the reasons I trusted him. That was one of the reasons I gave him everything.But this time, he just… left.“I’ll be back soon,” he said.Soon.No reason. No explanation. No truth.I sat up in bed and wrapped my arms around myself. My chest felt tight, like something was squeezing it from the inside.I had begged him to stay.I hated myself for that part.“Please,” I had said, my voice small even to my own ears. “Just tell me why.”He looked at me like he was breaking from the inside.“I can’t,” he said.
KROSS“Hello?”My voice came out rough, like I’d been holding my breath too long.The room was still warm from Sade. From us. The sheets were a mess. Her scent was everywhere, on my skin, in my lungs, in my head. I hadn’t moved yet. I was still lying there, staring at the ceiling, trying to convince my body that it was allowed to rest.“Kross,” a male voice buzzed through. It sounded clean, professional. “We have a new lead.”My chest tightened instantly.“A real one?” I asked.“Yes. On Sade’s mother.”Everything in me went cold.I sat up slowly, one hand pressing into the mattress. My heartbeat was loud in my ears. Too loud, like it wanted to escape.“Where?” I asked.“Greece,” he said. “Athens. But not where you’ve been looking.”I closed my eyes.Of course.There was always another door. Another shadow. Another truth waiting to hurt.“We need you here as soon as possible,” the man continued. “This lead won’t sit for long.”I didn’t answer right away.Behind me, I felt movement.Sad
KROSSI wasn’t done searching.That truth sat heavy in my chest the entire drive home, pressing against my ribs like it wanted out. Greece had given me pieces. Names. Handwriting. Half-truths wrapped in dust and regret. But no ending. No clean answer.And then there was my father.Dead.Just like that.I wasn’t even prepared enough for that. No last conversation that fixed what we never said. Just a body that went quiet and a house that felt empty afterward.And Sade’s mother.A ghost that refused to stay buried.It all piled up inside me until I felt like I was carrying too much weight for one man.So I came home.Not because I had answers.But because I was tired of holding everything alone.When I stepped out of the elevator, the house smelled like her.Her soft, familiar scent. Comforting in a way nothing else had been lately.Sade stood in the kitchen, barefoot, wearing one of my shirts. Her hair was pulled back, her face bare. She looked up when she heard me, and the moment our
SADEI met Ms. Harrin on a Thursday evening when my legs were tired, and my head was full.It had been one of those days where nothing went wrong, but nothing felt easy either. Class ended late, and most students rushed out, laughing and talking about dinner plans. I stayed behind, cleaning my station like always. I liked leaving things neat. It made my thoughts quieter.That was when I noticed her.She stood near the doorway, watching me…not in a judging way, not like Madame Valée. Her eyes were curious. Calm and patient.“You don’t rush,” she said.I turned, startled. “I’m sorry?”“You don’t rush,” she repeated, stepping closer. She wore a simple blazer and flat shoes. No strong perfume. Just something light and clean. Intentional. “That tells me a lot.”I nodded, not sure what to say.“I’m Ms. Harrin,” she added, holding out her hand. “I consult for the academy sometimes. Branding. Fragrance identity.”I shook her hand carefully. “I’m Sade.”“I know,” she said, smiling a little. “I







