The morning after the family meeting did not feel like a new day for Elara. It felt like a continuation of something already in motion, as though the house itself had not reset with the sunrise. The corridors of the Cross mansion carried the same quiet weight as the night before, but now it felt more deliberate, like silence was being used instead of simply existing.
Elara stood by the window in her room, watching the distant movement of the city below. Everything outside looked normal, almost careless in its rhythm, but she no longer trusted that appearance. After what she had seen in the family room, she could not separate surface from structure anymore. Every calm thing now looked like something holding pressure underneath it.
The door opened without warning.
Dante stepped in, closin
