Three months later.

London in late autumn was cold, damp, and gray.

Fog hovered over the River Thames, softening the outline of the city’s historic stone buildings and turning the distant lights along the embankment into blurred reflections. Rain had fallen earlier that

Andrew stood frozen as Sharon approached. The crowd seemed to part around her effortlessly. The faint scent of her familiar white tea perfume filled the air between them, instantly pulling Andrew back to the small suburban kitchen they had shared years ago.

"Sharon.

Andrew took the paper with trembling fingers, his vision blurred by tears as he looked at the legal text.

"What choice?" Andrew whispered, his breath ragged.

"You can continue to haunt the edges of our lives," Sharon explained calmly. "You can spend the next ten ye