Chapter 1: The Cracks

The alarm rang before dawn, as it always did.

Anna didn’t move at first. The sound drilled through her half-sleep, but she lay there staring at the ceiling, counting the seconds between each beep until her chest tightened with guilt. She was already late. She was always late.

The coffee machine sputtered weakly, like it shared her fatigue. She took a sip, burned her tongue, swore under her breath, and kept going. There was no time to stop, not even to feel sorry for herself.

At work, the office was a blur of buzzing lights, ringing phones, and the smell of stale air. She sat in front of her computer, the screen glowing too brightly, the endless lists of numbers and emails stacking up like walls around her. Her boss walked past her desk twice without saying hello — just a clipped “I need that report” tossed over his shoulder.