Sophia barely made it through the morning without dropping something. Elena had given her a strange look when she flinched at a slammed door, and the older woman’s eyes had lingered a second too long on the faint bruise peeking above Sophia’s collar. She’d played it off as clumsiness, but the close call left her nerves raw.
By late afternoon, the tension had only grown. Victor had been in meetings most of the day, but Damien kept finding excuses to brush past her — a hand on her waist in the hallway, a whispered “be careful tonight” that sounded more like a warning than reassurance.
The note that appeared in her room this time was simple: *Main study. 9:30. Door unlocked.*
She arrived early, heart already pounding. The study was dim, lit only by a single lamp on the desk. Victor was alr
