The crash downstairs didn’t just echo through the house — it tore through the silence that had been holding everything together.
For a second, I couldn’t move.
My body locked in place, my mind trying to catch up with what I’d just heard.
It wasn’t small. It wasn’t something falling or breaking by accident.
It was deliberate.
Violent.
My heart started racing, fast and uneven, my breath shallow as I stared at the door.
He had just been there. Right outside. Talking like this was controlled, like he had time, like he wasn’t worried about being caught.
And now—
Now something had changed.
Another sound followed.
Voices.
Low at first, then louder.
Movement.
Fast.
Not careful anymore.
Something was happening.
“No,” I whispered, more to steady myself than anything else. “Stay here
