Zayn closed his eyes, the image of Lena flashing behind his lids once more—those wide eyes, that stunned expression, the way her lips had parted when he kissed her as if her body had reacted before her mind could catch up.
He didn’t know what tomorrow would bring.
He didn’t know how she would respond, whether she would fight him every step of the way or eventually meet him halfway.
But one thing was certain.
He wasn’t walking away.
Not now.
Not from her.
Not from the life growing between them.
And for the first time in a very long time, the idea of returning home to the same woman didn’t feel like a cage.
It felt like a beginning.
--
The next day, the moment Lena stepped onto her floor at work, she felt it.
The silence wasn’t real silence, but the kind that hummed with tension,
