The days between signing and moving passed quietly.
Not empty days, but steady ones, filled with small confirmations rather than decisions. Willow noticed the absence of pressure almost immediately. Mornings arrived without urgency. Evenings closed without unfinished thoughts trailing behind them. The penthouse no longer felt like a place she was holding onto. It felt like a place that had done its job well.
She found herself paying attention to ordinary things again. The way light shifted across the floor in the late afternoon. The sound of Zana breathing through the baby monitor while she slept. The calm rhythm of shared routines that no longer felt provisional. Nothing was waiting to collapse. Nothing needed guarding.
