( this chapter is told from raina's pov)
I woke before the sun.
For a few moments, I lay still beneath the sheets, staring at the ceiling while the room sat in perfect silence. Sleep had become something fragile over the past month, never lasting long enough to leave me feeling rested. Every night ended with my thoughts chasing each other through the dark until exhaustion finally claimed me, and every morning began with those same thoughts waiting exactly where I'd left them.
I reached for my phone on the bedside table.
No messages.
No missed calls.
I already knew there wouldn't be.
Thirty-one days.
Thirty-one days since Ethan had stopped answering me.
I closed my eyes for a moment before setting the phone back down. It hurt a little less than it had during the first week, but only because pain had settled into something familiar. It had become another part of my routine, like brushing my teeth or making my bed.
