Chapter Twenty-Three
Ana
I walked out of the storage room the next morning.
After the heavy talk with Desmond the night before, he had finally left me alone. He hadn't come back to check on me throughout the night, and for that, I was grateful.
For the first time in a very long time, I actually had a good sleep in this house. The room was small and smelled of old paper, but it was quiet. There were no voices telling me I was a failure and no heavy presence of a man who didn't truly want me.
As I made my way toward the kitchen, I saw Desmond’s mother seated at the long dining table. She was alone, slowly sipping from a cup of tea. I paused at the doorway, looking around.
The house felt oddly empty. Desmond and Ema were nowhere to be seen. I assumed they were either still asleep upstai
