CHAPTER 121

The house felt empty, hollow. The shrouded corners everywhere angrily kept still, making me suffocate. This was my refuge back in time, a place of pleasure and focus.

Her absence made it feel like a prison to me. I was so accustomed to Varya being around; her powerful silence and her smell filled my nostrils like a drug. All that was left now was an unbearable sound of silence marking the moment she left once and for all.

On our shared bed’s edge, I sat, looking down at that pillow supposedly belonging to Varya last night before she looked for bedbugs under the table behind this wall.

There was also some scent other than hers mixed within these sheets but most importantly I could still sense even though it was fading slowly away every day passing by. It had been weeks since she disappeared. No notes, no calls.

She hadn’t even said goodbye. At first, I thought it was because our contract had ended—that she had simply walked away as planned. After all, we had agreed on this from the beg