The apartment door clicked shut with a hollow finality.
Annie exhaled slowly, keys in her hand, as she looked around the now-empty space that had been her safe corner of the world for the last few years. Bella stood beside her, a large rolling suitcase at her side and a soft sadness on her face.
"Doesn't feel like we ever lived here," Bella said, running her fingers along the faint dent in the wall from a night of indoor badminton.
"I thought it would be harder," Annie whispered. "But it's not. I'm ready."
They didn't linger. The car was already waiting outside, with blacked-out windows and Roy in the front seat, as usual. Jay leaned against the doorframe, tapping away at his phone, until he noticed them come down with their bags.
"No press," he said casually. "No tails either. Roy took care of it."
Annie just nodded. She was quiet the entire ride back to the Four Seasons.
