Isla’s POV
The distance between us did not happen loudly. It did not arrive with shouting or slammed doors or dramatic sentences that turn into scars. It came quietly, like fog rolling across the ocean before anyone notices the sky has changed color. One morning we woke, and there was a wall in the room that had not existed the day before. It was invisible, but it made everything heavier. A glance that used to hold curiosity now carried hesitation. A breath that used to soften now sounded like restraint. And every time our eyes met, something raw flickered in the space between us before both of us looked away.
Chase avoided intimacy the way a wounded animal avoids fire. He did not come close unless cameras forced him near me. If our hands brushed when we walked through the villa, he pull
