The Hale mansion pulsed with life by mid-morning.
Outside, a blanket of fresh snow coated the world in silence. Inside, laughter echoed off the walls, Christmas music hummed from the old record player, and the rich scents of roasted turkey, cinnamon, and pine filled every corner of the house.
It looked like a dream.
It sounded like a dream.
It almost felt like one, too.
Isabelle stood at the mirror in the upstairs hall, smoothing her cranberry-red dress over her hips, adjusting the thin gold chain at her throat. Her hair was pinned in soft waves, a faint shimmer dusted over her collarbone. Festive. Elegant.
Safe.
At least, that had been the intention.
But as she fastened her earring, she caught him — Sebastian — watching her from the other end of the hallway.
He leaned one shoulde
