(Esther’s Point of View)
The knock reverberated, slicing through the silence, a sound that seemed to amplify the strain between Matthew and me. I sensed a shift, a brewing tempest of feelings, not of rain, but of something more volatile.
Matthew's body stiffened at the sound, his form becoming a fortress. His face closed off, the defenses rising, one brick at a time. He was unwilling to confront this. He was unwilling to confront anyone, especially not me.
I saw it in the tightness of his jaw, the way his hands balled into fists at his sides.
A flash of frustration hit me, but I swallowed it. I couldn't let that anger take over—not now, not when everything felt so precarious.
I faced him, the gravity of the situation settling over us. "Matthew," I said quietly, though the urgency in m
