Silence had weight.
It wasn’t just the absence of words. It was a burden, pressing heavy against Sierra’s chest, curling around her throat until she had to remind herself to breathe.
For years, she had lived in it obediently, quietly, the perfect daughter. Vanessa had taught her that silence was elegance, the mark of discipline, the armor of survival. Damien had shown her that silence was submission, the way desire could be coaxed with nothing more than a look, a command, a rope cinched tighter.
But now… silence was something else.
It was power.
Hidden beneath her mattress, folded inside her sketchbook, were the papers she had stolen proof of her mother’s manipulations, proof of Damien’s involvement. They burned in her memory, whispering possibilities she wasn’t ready to face.
The si
