The silence in the house pressed against her skin.
Ryan had walked away, his footsteps fading down the marble corridor, and Eve stood motionless, her body trembling. The echo of his voice still lingered, cold and bruising.
She waited until the sound of a door closing reached her ears before she dared to move. Her knees felt weak, her breath shallow. She turned and began walking down the hallway, the same path she had taken for three years, the same walls that had watched her suffer in silence.
Her hand brushed the polished banister. The wood was cool under her fingers, familiar in a way that made her chest tighten.
She reached the guestroom, the room that had once been hers.
For a moment she hesitated, then pushed the door open.
The scent of lavender polish hit her first, mixed with
