Chapter 56 - New Path

Mira left her apartment with the weight of the week still clinging to her shoulders. The hallway smelled faintly of detergent and old paint; the elevator hummed, carrying her down past floors that blurred into the city's ordinary noise. She had told herself she couldn't depend on Isadora forever, but the memory of Ethan's smile—slick, practiced—had lodged under her ribs and would not be dislodged by reassurances. Dependence felt dangerous now. She needed something steady that belonged to her and her baby alone.