I PRETENDED TO BE “D.E.A.D” TO TEST THE LOYALTY OF MY SHY HOUSEKEEPER — BUT WHAT I DISCOVERED… WAS DEEPER THAN MY HEART COULD HANDLE.

Never test the heart of someone who has given you theirs freely.

Because loyalty revealed through pain is a truth you don’t deserve.

I was lucky.

More luck than I ever earned.

And every morning I wake up next to Lina, I remember the day I pretended to be dead.

Not as a clever story.

But as a reminder of how close I came to losing the only thing that gave meaning to my life.

This time, the heartbeat I’m protecting isn’t just mine.

It’s ours.