Chapter 77 — The Request

Amelia's pov

I woke in my own bed the next morning, startled for a moment to find myself here.

The sheets smelled faintly of lavender and sea air, sun-warmed from yesterday, though the room was still cool. I stretched my legs under the covers, testing them. They didn’t feel like they belonged to me yet, but they moved. That was something.

I’d expected to lie awake most of the night, but somehow sleep had claimed me anyway — deeper and longer than I’d thought possible.

And now, in the strange quiet of the villa, it felt almost obscene to have slept so well.

The silence was the worst part. The house was too big, too still. Every faint creak of wood or sigh of wind through the balcony doors sounded louder here.

By the time sunlight crept across the floor, I couldn’t lie there anymore.

I got up.

Showered.

Dressed in the simplest things I owned — soft black pants, a pale sweater, flats. My hair went into a low knot at the base of my neck. No makeup. I couldn’t bear to see my own reflectio