Chapter 83 — Between Sleep and Skin

(Point of view: Adrián Castell)

The office was silent, the stillness broken only by the faint hum of the air vent and Sofía’s steady breathing. The blinds let in thin slivers of moonlight that washed over her face in soft shadows. She slept on the couch, clutching her notebook as if it were something sacred. I watched her from the chair, and that small gesture tore me apart.

I ached to touch her. To feel her warmth again, to stop being a stranger in the li