Sebastian Hale knew the moment he stepped into the house that something was off.
It wasn’t anything obvious — not at first. The house was quiet, the soft sounds of cartoons drifting from the living room, the scent of dinner lingering in the air. But the atmosphere felt… wrong. Heavy. The kind of stillness that followed in the wake of something unwelcome.
He set his briefcase down slowly, his eyes scanning the space. The twins weren’t in sight, but their laughter — the easy, carefree kind that usually filled these walls — was missing.
He found Sophia in the kitchen, flipping through her phone with a frown. She didn’t look up when he entered.
“Where’s Isabelle?” he asked, his voice low.
“Upstairs,” Sophia said without looking up. “Licking her wounds after your favorite houseguest droppe
