Then she opened the banking app on her phone and canceled every recurring payment one by one.
Each confirmation screen asked if she was sure.
Carissa pressed yes with the calm of a woman signing exit papers for parts of her life that had already died.
When she got home, Damen was in the kitchen waiting.
“You went to Nikki’s.”
Carissa set her keys down. “Yes.”
“What did you say to her?”
“The truth.”
He gave a short, disbelieving laugh. “So you did something stupid.”
She looked at him. Really looked. The handsome face. The tired eyes that still somehow imagined themselves misunderstood rather than responsible. The body she had once wanted simply because it was his.
“What did you tell her about us?” Carissa asked.
Damen spread his hands. “That things have been bad for a while.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It’s close enough.”
“And what exactly have you told your brother?”
The question landed.
His eyes narrowed. “Why are you talking about Jackson?”