On those nights, she checked Sofia’s room.
Then she returned to the kitchen, where unfinished notes and fresh coffee often waited.
Sometimes Gabriel was there.
He never told her she was safe as though safety were something he could guarantee forever.
He simply stayed.
And Megan, who had once whispered those words because fear had stripped away her pride, eventually understood what she had truly been asking for.
Not rescue.
Not ownership.
Not a stronger cage.
A witness who would remain beside her while she opened the door herself.
