The dining room of the Bishop Manor felt cavernous after Xavier’s sudden departure. Madam Bishop watched her daughter pick at her food, the vibrant young woman now replaced by a person who seemed to be treading on thin ice within her own mind.
"So, another fight?" Madam Bishop asked gently, breaking the silence. "He looked like he was settling in for dinner, then he came down from your room with a face like thunder and vanished."
Chloe Bishop shook her head slowly, her eyes fixed on her reflection in the polished silverware. "We didn't fight."
"Then why did he leave so abruptly?"
Chloe offered no answer. The conversation in the bedroom—the raw, bleeding truth of her trauma—wasn't something she could translate into casual dinner talk.
"Will he be here for Baby Bella’s celebration tomor
