**Elena**
The drive back to the mansion was suffocating.
Not because of the car, or the night air that hummed quietly around us… but because of Xavier.
He didn’t say a word.
Not a glance. Not even a sigh.
Just cold silence.
He told me to sit in the back seat while he drove.
Seriously?
Was I some fragile object now?
I understood that he was being cautious, he had even sent the driver home, clearly not trusting anyone else with me after everything that happened.
But this... this cold wall he’d put up? It wasn’t care. It was distance.
By the time we pulled into the mansion driveway, the estate lights were already on, casting a soft glow that danced with the pale shimmer of the moon. It should’ve felt calming.
It didn’t.
I stepped out of the car slowly, expecting him to at least
