The soft click of the car unlocking didn’t match the storm in Robert’s chest. He didn’t open the door.
He just stood there, knuckles white as they gripped the top of the frame, his shoulders hunched forward, his breathing shallow and uneven. The weight of everything he saw, everything he lost, pressed down on his spine like it wanted to snap him in half.
The world outside moved.
Cars. Horns. Distant chatter.
But for Robert?
Time had f*****g stopped.
Gloria leaned casually against the passenger side of the car, her arms folded, one leg crossed over the other, heels glinting in the fading afternoon light. Her lipstick was still perfect. Her expression unreadable. But her eyes?
They were watching him.
Closely.
Because she recognized the look in his body. That numb, hollow twitch bene
