CHAPTER SEVENTY SIX – LEARNING TO RECOVER

Zoe's expression softened. "How are you really doing, Joan?" The question caught her off guard. For weeks, she'd been deflecting, avoiding, burying herself in work. But now, faced with her friend's genuine concern, Joan felt her carefully constructed walls begin to crumble. "I... I don't know," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "I feel lost. Confused. Angry. I thought I knew Vito, thought I knew what our future looked like. And now..." "Now you have to reimagine everything," Zoe finished for her. Joan nodded, feeling tears prick at her eyes. "Exactly. And I don't know where to start." Zoe squeezed her hand again. "You start right here, right now. By letting yourself feel everything you've been pushing down. By letting your friends support you. And by remembering that you are Joan freaking Keppler, badass psychologist and all-around amazing human." Joan laughed through her tears. "I don't feel very badass right now." "That's okay," Zoe assured her. "You don't have t