Chapter 4

I returned home from the gallery with my mother's ruined painting wrapped in protective cloth, my hands still trembling from the afternoon's devastation. The house felt different as I stepped through the front door—foreign scents lingering in the air, subtle changes that made my skin crawl.

Upstairs, I pushed open our bedroom door and froze. The framed photo of our wedding day that had sat on Vincenzo's nightstand for five years was gone, replaced by a glossy print of him and Kaiya at some restaurant, their faces glowing with infatuation. My throat constricted as I noticed more changes—a silk scarf…