Ahsaas's POV:

Night had settled heavily over the penthouse.

Not the peaceful kind—

but the kind that pressed against the glass windows like a secret that refused to stay outside.

I was in my room, seated at the study table, books open in front of me. Pages filled with words I kept rereading without absorbing anything. Notes lay scattered, half-written sentences trailing off like my thoughts.

I told myself I was studying.