ALEX POV
The estate has a way of announcing things without words. I notice it the moment I step through the front doors, the shift in air, the subtle disturbance of routine. The staff moves differently, Quieter, careful in a way that has nothing to do with my grandmother’s recovery and everything to do with a secret they’ve been instructed not to reveal.
I stop in the foyer, something is wrong. Not wrong in the catastrophic sense, no alarms, no frantic calls, but wrong in the way a room feels after an argument you weren’t present for. The house feels… occupied, not fuller, just altered.
“Good evening, sir.” Mrs. Collins, the housekeeper, stands near the staircase. Her posture is perfect, as always. Too perfect.
“Evening,” I reply, scanning the space behind her. “Has anything changed wh
