The quiet in the Hawthorne estate was deceptive. It had been a week since Scarlett and Ethan had returned from the harrowing ambush, and while the external wounds had begun to heal, the emotional scars lingered like an unspoken tension in the air. Scarlett was shocked because their holiday was only supposed to last a week but now it was a month.
She suspected her father had a hand in this but decided to keep her thoughts to herself.
Scarlett had spent most of her days moving cautiously, trying to avoid the piercing questions her father’s sharp eyes demanded but didn’t voice. Michael Hawthorne was a man of action, not words, and though he hadn’t yet confronted her about what had happened, Scarlett could feel the weight of his scrutiny.
Ethan, on the other hand, had taken to keeping hims
