~Caden's POV~
Five weeks before the hearing, Caden begins the work of making a promise true in the specific, unglamorous way that promises actually become true, one completed task at a time, none of them visible to anyone but himself and the small number of people he has to involve to get them done.
Rhys had shown her three properties the week before, as arranged, walking her through each one over a video call while Caden waited at the office and did not ask for details afterward beyond which one she had chosen. She picked the south-edge house, leased and neutral, with its own entrance separate from the main road and enough distance from Blackwell Manor that no one passing it would think to connect it to him at all. He had expected her to choose it. It was the most defensible of the thre
