The second day dawned, heavy and gray, mirroring the emotional atmosphere of the mansion. Luther had left early, his departure marked by the soft closing of his armored car door and the immediate, intensified silence of the house staff. His absence was supposed to be a reprieve, but it felt more like a lull before a storm.
I tested my limits almost immediately. I was not physically trapped in the master suite, nor was I explicitly forbidden from meeting anyone in the household. Anyone, that is, except the two people I needed most: Nash and Kylie, who were now essentially being held hostage under the guise of "working from home."
I left the master suite, moving slowly through the sterile, marble-clad corridors of the mansion. The air was unnaturally cool and quiet. Every step I took wa
