The city didn't sleep; it just changed its tone from loud to something quieter.
By the time I stepped out of the lobby, the story had already spread. I could feel it without checking anything. It hung in the air, heavy and hard to ignore.
Everywhere I looked, people were on their phones. Faces lit up, eyes moving quickly, like they were all reading the same thing at once.
Me.
Conversations cut off the moment I walked past. Not slowly instantly. Like someone had pulled a plug.
Then I'd take a few more steps, and the whispers would start again behind me.
"Is that her?"
"The Carter girl?"
"I heard she lost everything last night."
"So her fiancé cheated on her"
"She is always all over him, he tends to get tired."
"Look at her… she's still walking as if nothing happened."
I didn't react.
