Chapter 142 —The New Reality

Narrator:

The car was waiting for her outside the terminal, just where Roman had told her. Black, immaculate, unostentatious but clearly his. When Aylin walked through the exit doors with her suitcase in one hand and her scarf still wrapped around her neck, the driver was already getting out to open the back door for her.

“Mrs. Adler,” he greeted her respectfully.

She nodded slightly. She didn't correct his surname.

The trip was long but quiet. She didn't need conversation. She looked out the window, slowly recognizing the landscape that had seen her grow up. Everything felt the same and different at the same time. And in her chest... a constant pressure. It wasn't fear. It was the certainty that she was returning to a place she knew, but no longer as the Aylin who had left.

When the car entered the village, she felt it. The streets had been improved. The facades were well maintained. There were some new businesses. Others had new signs and different lights