The first thing Chloe noticed when she woke up was the quiet.
Not the sharp silence of unresolved arguments, not the hush of exhaustion. Just the absence of urgency.
No alarms. No deadlines. No need to pretend everything was fine.
It was her rest day, but everything still felt heavy.
She sat up slowly, blinking at the sunlight slipping through the blinds. She had slept longer than usual—her body deciding, for once, that she deserved rest before reality pulled her back in.
Kevin wasn't in the room.
No surprise there.
She heard faint movement from the kitchen—the low murmur of Carter's voice, the shuffle of footsteps. Kevin must have been making breakfast, carrying on with routine like things hadn't shifted beneath them.
But they had.
Chloe inhaled deeply, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and pressed her feet against the cool floor. She wasn't sure what came next—but she knew she wasn't staying frozen in this moment.
She walked out, pulling on a hoodie, ready for the first conversation in this new version of her life.
And this time, she wasn't questioning herself.