Chapter 35 – Ten Days, Day Five: When The Devil Cracks
(Serena's POV — Coastal House)
Day five. The rules had shifted without announcement.
There were no more commands about kneeling, no schedule stripped down to military precision. Lucian had not touched me since the night I demanded answers about Beverley. But he had not pulled away either — not entirely.
He was present in a different way now. Quiet. Watching. As if he were learning me from a distance, the way you study a flame before deciding whether to cup it in your palms or let it burn you.
That morning, I found him on the terrace with a mug of black coffee, staring at the sea. The sun had barely risen, the sky smeared lavender and gold at the horizon. He looked exhausted in a way I hadn't noticed before — the hollows beneath hi
