ARIA'S POV
The letter came on a Tuesday.
Not an email. An actual letter, printed on official Medical Board stationery with the seal at the top and the specific formal language of an institution that communicated in complete sentences and left no room for ambiguity.
She was in the kitchen when it arrived.
Luzy brought it in from the front desk with the morning post and set it on the table in front of her without comment, which meant Luzy had looked at the return address and understood what it was and had made a decision about how to deliver it that Aria appreciated more than she could say.
She looked at it.
Her name on the front. Dr. Aria Chen. The return address of the Medical Board in the top left corner.
She picked up her coffee first.
Drank half of it.
Then she picked up the letter.
She read it twice.
