The days after that wild week felt different.
Not bad. Not sad. Just… heavier with everything we weren’t saying.
My father announced it suddenly over breakfast. “Amina, you’re going to London in two weeks. Business school. It’s safer there, and you need to focus on your future.”
I froze with the spoon halfway to my mouth. Rufus stood by the door like always, face blank. But I saw his jaw tighten for half a second.
That night, we didn’t talk about it.
We just burned.
It was our last full night alone before the house filled with people again. I found Rufus in the big living room after midnight. The lights were off, only the city glow from the windows lighting his body. He wore only black boxers, sitting on the long couch, waiting.
I walked in wearing nothing but a thin silk robe, open
