(Alice)
The house had never felt so quiet.
Not empty—never that. There were staff moving softly behind doors, guards stationed at every corridor, the low hum of a place that existed to serve comfort. But silence lived somewhere else. It lived in the spaces where Luca used to be.
I stood in front of the mirror for a long time, staring at my reflection like it might blink first.
I looked the same.
Perfect hair. Flawless skin. Silk clinging to my body like it had been designed for me alone. This house, these rooms, this life—everything about me still screamed chosen.
So why did it feel like something had been taken?
I pressed my fingers to the edge of the vanity until my knuckles paled.
He hadn’t shouted. He hadn’t insulted me. He hadn’t even raised his voice.
That was the cruelty of
