Chapter 36
The morning crept in slow, gray, and unforgiving. Bruce sat at his dining table, untouched coffee cooling in front of him. His head throbbed with the weight of another sleepless night, and the silence of the house felt heavier than stone.
A knock startled him. It was firm, deliberate, not the tentative tap of staff or delivery. Bruce pushed back his chair, irritation already rising. Few dared to come unannounced anymore.
When he opened the door, the sight stopped him cold.
Mr. and Mrs. Hansley. Lyra’s parents. Ella’s parents.
They stood on the porch as though they belonged there, their posture straight, their expressions carved with the cool confidence of people who had weathered storms and decided they would never again bow to them.
“Bruce,” Mr. Hansley said evenly. His g
