Chapter 139

Vera

Three weeks into planning. It’s a Thursday night. I get home, walk into the study, and find him there.

Not on the phone, not lost in paperwork. Just in the good chair by the window, book open, actually reading. The desk lamp glows beside him, and beyond the glass, the city pushes in, distant but present.

I linger in the doorway for a second.

He hasn’t noticed me yet. His reading glasses are h