Damien’s POV
“She listens when people speak gently, Damien. You should try it.”
Victoria’s advice followed me into the office on Monday morning.
It stayed with me during the drive into the city, while I reviewed messages from the security team, and even after I sat behind my desk with three urgent reports waiting for my attention.
I should have dismissed it.
Victoria did not understand what had happened at the estate. She had not seen the tracks near the forest or the broken northern fence. She did not know how close Ofelia had come to real danger, twice in the same day.
Speaking gently would not have stopped the horse from racing toward the trees.
It would not have prevented her from walking into the forest after I ordered her to remain inside.
Yet as I looked through the glass wa
