Serena
I woke up to silence. The kind of silence that pressed down on my chest and made the air feel too heavy to breathe. Damian’s side of the bed was empty, the sheets already cold. I couldn’t remember when he left. Maybe hours ago. Maybe he hadn’t even stayed the night. It was hard to tell with him. He came and went like the shadow of a storm—never announcing, never explaining.
I sat up slowly, running my fingers through my hair. The room was beautiful in the way everything here was beautiful—grand, expensive, almost suffocating. It wasn’t mine, though. No matter how much silk they draped on the bed or how many diamonds they locked around my neck, nothing about this house felt like mine. I was just… stuck here—so I felt.
A knock came at the door in no time. Before I could answer, the
