ARIAThe silence in this apartment didn’t just sit there—it hissed.It was 3:00 AM, and the city outside was a muffled blur of distant sirens and rain hitting the glass. I was huddled on the floor, the only light in the room coming from the blue glow of my phone screen. I was scrolling. Again.There was Aurora, her face smeared with mashed peas, looking like she’d just won a tiny, messy war. Then Adrian, his little hand curled around my thumb while he slept. I swiped through dozens of them, my chest aching so sharply I had to remind myself to breathe.With the room so quiet, every twitch of their faces felt heavy, like it was crushing me. I missed their scent—that sweet, milky warmth that used to cling to my clothes. Now, I just smelled like cheap laundry detergent and old floorboards.My thumb slipped.The screen shifted from the gallery to the dialer, and before I could even process what happened, the phone was ringing.Luca."Crap," I hissed, scrambling to hit the red button. But t
Last Updated : 2026-06-04 Read more