Ethan snatched up his phone in agitation, dialing Vesper's number again and again, only to be met with the cold, mechanical drone of a busy tone.
Text after text flew from his fingers, accusations, demands, even a hint of pleading he did not realize he had let slip, all vanishing into thin air.
Not a sound came from behind the door.
Only the curtains in the second-floor master bedroom stirred ever so slightly before settling back into stillness.
That silent indifference cut deeper than any insult, leaving Ethan numbed by a despair so deep it seeped into his bones.
At last, he understood. Vesper would never open that door for him again.
Sunlight drenched the garden of the Lynd family estate in honeyed warmth.
Fresh from her rehabilitation checkup, Vesper walked steadily along the peb
