Chapter 123

Isabella’s POV

The next morning, when I reached the office, Chiara wanted to see me right away.

So that was where I found myself as soon as I’d gotten my usual up of coffee.

Chiara’s office had always been one of my favorite spaces in the building, after my own office, of course.

Tall windows let in Florence’s early morning sunlight, casting soft shadows across shelves packed with exhibition catalogues, old mockups, and carefully labeled binders from projects that had once felt just as impossible as this one had in its earliest days. The air smelled faintly of coffee and paper, a scent that was both familiar, and grounding.

Work smelled like this.

I took a seat across from her, setting my bag down, feeling my shoulders loosen as she smiled at me.