ARIAS POV
The silence in the mansion tonight was different.
It wasn’t the peaceful kind that lulled you to sleep.
It was thick, strained, like a string pulled too tight on the verge of snapping.
I sat on the edge of the bed, knees drawn to my chest, the cold sheets behind me a reminder of everything that had changed. Or maybe... everything that had never been real to begin with.
Julian hadn’t come to my room tonight. Again.
Not after dinner. Not after that half-hearted conversation on the couch. Not after I’d bared my soul to him and asked for something anything real.
Just silence.
That was what hurt the most.
He said he trusted me. But trust wasn’t silence. Trust wasn’t locking parts of your life behind steel walls and expecting me to be grateful for whatever pieces you offered.
