By the time Susanne made it back to her temporary apartment south of the city center, darkness had fallen, and she could barely make out the shapes of the beautiful Art Nouveau villas with their ornamental facades in the neighborhood.

She entered the building and unlocked the door of her spacious apartment on the first floor. Her steps echoed through the nearly empty dining room and the kitchen, which was separated from it by two arched doorways.

The fridge was just as bare as the rest of the apartment. Guess it’ll be muesli for dinner.

At least there were no moving boxes cluttering the space, since she had brought only a couple of suitcases, duffel bags, and one box of stuff for the kitchen. She had figured that the less she took, the less she would need to lug back once her exile was over.

Without any furniture, the dining room was kind of depressing, so she grabbed her bowl of muesli and wandered into the living room, which wasn’t quite as bare since she had taken over a recliner and a coffee table from the previous tenant.

The hardwood floor creaked softly beneath her boots. After she had been gone all day, the air in the room had gone stale, so she opened the French doors that led to the garden she shared with the building’s other tenants. The air was cool, but at least it had stopped raining.

She stood in the doorway and inhaled the scent of the wet grass.

An owl hooted from a tree at the edge of the property. No sounds of passing cars interrupted the peaceful atmosphere—only the ravenous growling of her stomach. She hadn’t made time for lunch. Instead, she had gobbled down some peanuts while poring over Uncle Norbert’s business ledgers and bank statements. What she had seen had ruined her appetite anyway. Her uncle was just as bad of a businessman as his brother. Paper Love was in big trouble. The store hadn’t turned a profit in years. It barely made enough to cover payroll and utilities, much less the other monthly bills. Uncle Norbert had used his personal money to help keep the store afloat, but he couldn’t keep doing that. If she didn’t find a way to turn things around soon, Paper Love would be going under.

Maybe it would be for the best. Why cling to a store that was doomed just for sentimental reasons? Her uncle could sell off the stock and start anew with something else—or enjoy his much-deserved pension. But they weren’t at that point yet. Susanne wasn’t one for giving up without putting up one hell of a fight. She’d start by taking inventory of the stock and taking a closer look at the products the store sold tomorrow.