silence
Not the quiet kind.
Not the peaceful kind.
But the kind that presses against your chest—
Heavy.
Demanding.
Waiting.
Isabella Vicks could feel it in the air, thick and suffocating as she stood beside Damien Hayes. The offer Astra had made still echoed in her mind, sharp and impossible to ignore.
Join me… or become irrelevant.
It wasn’t just a choice.
It was a threat disguised as opportunity.
Damien didn’t move.
Didn’t speak.
But Isabella knew him well enough to feel the shift happening inside him.
He wasn’t hesitating.
He was calculating.
Astra watched them both, calm and patient, as if time itself belonged to them.
“You don’t need to rush,” Astra said smoothly. “Decisions like this… deserve thought.”
Damien’s lips curved slightly.
“Not this one.”
Isabella’s hea
