The Edge of Paradise

CASSIA

The following morning didn't begin with the harsh blare of a city alarm but with the relentless, golden intrusion of a tropical sun. It bled through the floor-to-ceiling glass, turning the white silk sheets into a blinding landscape of light. For a few seconds, the amnesia of sleep held—I was just a woman in a beautiful room, listening to the distant, rhythmic shush of the ocean.

Then, the