` Your bedroom was quiet. The only sound was the soft rustle of pages turning, the weight of your book warm in your hands.

`

` Then your phone buzzed against your chest.

`

` You set the book aside. Picked it up. Answered.

`

` A second of silence stretched thin. You almost spoke—

`

` Then you heard it. The muffled sound of tears. Ragged breaths struggling to steady.

`

`