Chapter 13

Cassandra eased her car into the garage just after dusk, the fluorescent light overhead flickering as she killed the engine. It had been a long day at the agency—late-night revisions on the mood boards, last-minute tweaks to the promotional banners, and frantic emails about fonts and color palettes that must be ready for next week’s marketing blitz. Her shoulders still ached from hauling sketchbooks and sample prints across town, and she fancied that her brain had been left behind in the conference room.

As she pressed the remote to lower the garage door, her mind drifted back to her earlier conversation with Thomas. She’d found a photograph online—a male model with chiseled cheekbones and impossibly etched six-pack abs—and sent it to him with a teasing caption. His silence in return had stung more than she expected.

She could still see the message thread in her mind:

Cassandra: “Look at this guy! Sexy, right?” Thomas: [No reply]

She remembered frowning at he