Chapter 59. Interview

The studio smelled like dust, coffee, and old audio foam.

Yara’s voice echoed faintly through the monitors as she tested levels.

“Mic check. One, two, three.”

She looked up, grinned. “You ready?”

Lia sat across from her at the narrow table, headphones resting around her neck. Her palms were still a little damp—not fear exactly, but the body’s memory of it.

“I’ve fought people with less warning.”

“Good,” Yara said. “This isn’t a fight. Just honesty with microphones.”

The room hummed low. Outside the window, Chicago hummed higher—traffic, a siren far off, the slow rhythm of a city that refused to stop.

Yara pressed record. The red light blinked once.

“So,” she began, “how does it feel starting over?”

Lia exhaled. “That’s a trick question.”

“Maybe.”

“It felt… quieter.” She thought for a second. “And heavier, in a good way. Like the weight you earned instead of the one you inherited.”

Yara nodded, not writing