Vera's eyes softened with that particular glow that only surfaced when she spoke about her husband. She shifted on the sofa, setting her teacup aside, and folded her hands in her lap as though gathering the memory close before speaking.
"It was about a year after I divorced Maxwell, Callen's biological father…"
She began, her voice steady but touched with nostalgia.
"I needed to get away… to find myself again. So I traveled. I went to Japan that spring—just in time for the cherry blossoms."
She chuckled quietly at the recollection.
"I remember standing under this massive cherry tree in Ueno Park, watching the petals fall like snow. It felt like the whole world was soft and pink for a moment. Then I heard the click of a camera shutter behind me. I turned—and there was this short, round man with the warmest smile, snapping photos of me as if I were part of the scenery."
