Chapter 1

The salt air hit me the moment I stepped off the bus, thick and heavy with the scent of frying dough, stale beer, and the briny decay of the ocean. It was that specific, cloying humidity that clings to your skin like a second layer, making my silk blouse stick to my ribs. I adjusted the strap of my clutch, my heels clicking a rhythmic, nervous cadence against the wooden planks of the boardwalk. The sun was beginning its slow, bloody descent behind the horizon, painting the sky in bruised purples and burnt oranges, casting long, stretching shadows that seemed to reach for my ankles. I had been told to meet him here. *Just me and Daddy.* No parents, no distractions. Just the two of us, like old times, but heavier. Heavier with everything we hadn’t said, everything we hadn’t done. The boardwalk was alive, buzzing with the chaotic energy of a Friday evening crowd. The scream of children on the carousel mixed with the tinny, distorted melody of carnival music playing from a broken speaker. The smell of caramelized sugar was overwhelming, mingling with the sharper, cleaner scent of the sea foam rolling onto the sand below the pier.