Ava’s POV:
“Because whatever they’re planning next, it has already begun.”
The words echo in my head as I walk down the hallway behind Elena. My steps are steady, measured, exactly the way they expect them to be. Panic lives deeper now. It has learned how to hide. The walls feel closer than they did this morning. The house is no longer pretending to be a home. It’s a structure designed to guide, contain, and correct.
Margaret waits in the sitting room with Theodore and Daniel Cross.
The moment I see Daniel, something in my chest tightens. He does not rise when I enter. He watches me the way men do when they believe they already know the outcome. Calm. Certain. Patient.
“Ava,” Margaret says. “Sit.”
I do.
Theodore’s knee bounces once before stilling. He looks irritated, not angry. Lik
