Jaxen POV
Living one floor above her was the first decision that had felt right in months.
The restlessness that used to claw at the edges of every night had quieted.
Sleep came deeper, heavier.
Even the air in the apartment carried a faint trace of her that somehow drifted down through the shared vents and settled into the walls.
I just let it sit there, a constant low thrum under my skin that made the silence easier to stand.
Mom noticed the second she stepped into the foyer.
Her gaze swept over me once, sharp and assessing.
“You’re different,” she said.
“Lighter. What changed?”
“Moved into Scarlett’s building. Same stack.”
She paused, one hand still on her coat.
“And how did she take it?”
“She didn’t. Cold shoulder every time we cross paths in the lobby or the garage. D
