Chapter Twenty-Eight: These Lonesome Nights

The first night Kainaat slept without waking up, she didn’t question it. She lay down expecting the usual fight, the tossing, the half-dreams, the sudden jolts awake with her heart punching against her ribs. Instead, she blinked once at the ceiling, and the next thing she knew, it was morning. No father’s voice. No accusations echoing in the dark. No replay of old nights she wished she could delete.