The apartment stood high above the restless streets, wrapped in glass and silence, a place fashioned for comfort yet holding none of it, and Elara stepped within as one might enter a borrowed life, her gaze passing across polished surfaces that reflected a stranger rather than the woman she knew herself to be.
The air smelled faintly of linen and something carefully curated, a softness that did not belong to her world, a stillness that felt less like peace and more like something staged, something waiting to be believed.
She moved slowly through the space, her fingers brushing lightly against the edge of a table, testing its reality, as though expecting it to dissolve beneath her touch and reveal the truth beneath.
Behind her, Julia Black remained near the door, silent and watchful, her posture composed with lethal precision, her presence unobtrusive yet undeniable, like a shadow that chose its shape.
"…this is your new life," Julia said quietly.
Her tone was even.
