~HUNTER~
The mansion felt different when I walked through the front doors. Colder somehow, despite the warm afternoon sun streaming through the windows.
The staff moved around me like ghosts, their eyes sliding away whenever I tried to make contact.
Something was wrong.
"Welcome home, Mr. Hunter," Sally said, but her usual stern confidence was replaced by something that looked almost like guilt.
"Thank you." I set down my briefcase, studying her face. "Where's Celine?"
Sally's hands twisted in her apron. "The laundry room, sir. She's been... keeping busy."
The way she said it made my chest tighten. I headed toward the back of the house, passing staff members who suddenly found urgent tasks that required their immediate attention elsewhere.
The laundry room was filled with the soun
