JADE's POV
The dinner table buzzed with laughter and warmth, the clinking of glasses punctuating the lively conversation. Everyone had indulged in a few glasses of wine, their cheeks glowing from the combined effects of alcohol and the fireplace's golden heat. Silas’s family wasn’t like mine. They were genuine, full of affection, despite the hardships and crises they had weathered together.
My family, by contrast, had crumbled under the slightest of breezes—fragile, cold, and fake to the core.
To my surprise, the day hadn’t been as awful as I’d anticipated. Outside, the snow had paused, blanketing the garden in pure, unbroken white. The mountain house exuded a peacefulness that was almost intoxicating. Maybe it wasn’t the house at all, but the feeling of being around people who functio
