The whisper had been enough to keep me breathing.
But whispers couldn’t break locks.
We needed more.
For days, Daniel’s eyes trailed me like shadows. Every movement, every breath, measured. He didn’t ask questions, not directly. He just watched, like a predator circling, waiting for me to stumble.
And then one night, Adrian answered. Not with words. But with something else.
The Sound in the Walls
It began as a rhythm.
I was sitting in the study, pretending to read, while Daniel scrawled notes at his desk. His pen scratched steadily, the clock ticked softly—and then, faint beneath it all, came a knock.
Three knocks. Pause. Two.
My chest tightened. Adrian.
I almost looked toward the wall, but forced my eyes back to the book. Daniel wouldn’t hear it—he was too focused, too far from
