Aluna woke to silence.
Not the peaceful kind.
The suffocating kind.
The kind that pressed against her chest and made breathing feel like effort.
For a moment, she did not move.
Arka’s side of the bed was empty.
Cold.
He had already left.
She stared at the ceiling, her thoughts slow and heavy, as if her mind was resisting something it did not want to face.
Then she saw it.
Her phone.
Resting on the bedside table.
The screen was dark.
But she knew.
She felt it.
Her pulse quickened before she even reached for it.
Her fingers hesitated just above the surface.
Fear.
Not of the message itself.
But of what it would take away from her.
Slowly, she picked it up.
The screen lit up instantly.
One new message.
Unknown number.
Her throat tightened as she opened it.
Three senten
