Alexander’s POV
I didn’t wait.
Hayley’s footsteps struck the corridor above like a drumbeat, echoing against the silence she left behind. Sonia was trembling but unbroken in the foyer, Molly braced like a wall beside her. For the first time in too long, I knew exactly what needed to be done.
My decision seared through me like fire, and I let it carry me upward.
The staircase groaned under my weight, each step deliberate, my eyes fixed on the landing. When I reached the top, I saw her.
Hayley stood at the far end of the corridor, one hand braced against the wall as if she’d been waiting for me to follow. Her posture was loose, but I recognized the tension in her shoulders. She wasn’t retreating. She was baiting me.
“Alexander.” Her voice floated back to me, steady, velvet-wrapped. “Yo
