Chapter One - The Bookbinder's Window
The town of Merrenport slept by the sea. Its cobblestone streets glimmered faintly after rain, and the scent of lavender drifted from every open window.
Isola Merren arrived just before dusk — that fragile hour when the sky couldn’t decide between gold and lilac. She rented a room above Dorran & Co. Binding & Restoration, an old bookshop owned by Callen Dorran, a man whose hands repaired what time had worn.
Each night, she heard the rhythm of his work through the floorboards — a calm heartbeat of glue, thread, and quiet patience. One evening, she looked down through the staircase window and saw him bathed in lamplight. Their eyes met for a breath, two quiet souls sharing a single, wordless hello.
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