Chapter 4 — The Greenhouse Awakens

Ellie

The greenhouse loomed at the edge of the backyard, shrouded in ivy that clung stubbornly to its rusted frame. Ellie stood before it, hands trembling slightly as she clutched a pair of heavy-duty gardening gloves. The late afternoon sun filtered through the overgrowth, casting fractured patterns of light across the cracked glass panels. She had avoided this place for so long. At first, it was out of practicality—there was always something else more pressing to do. Then, it became something else entirely: a monument to the dreams she had shelved, buried under Greg’s indifference and her own self-doubt.