der than any room full of voices. That was

e rehearsed laughter echoing off our marble walls. Not even the so

sil

lence, I final

orate, staring at a bridal gown draped on the mannequin like it's waiting to swall

it looks

st him. I never have. There's a smile he gives that feels hollow. A gaze that never quite m

played

l to

ke as I zip up a travel bag I packed two nights ago, just in c

alk without sound, how to smile without showing pain, how to exist without taking up

lorists, caterers, photographers. No one quest

hey find you? What if they drag you

he voice.

d in years-not since I was twelve and used to sneak out to climb trees in the orchard.

lane, exactly as I asked. He doesn't as

glancing in the rearview mirro

the mountains. And ple

at least not immediately. The place has been abandoned for years, the family who o

hort nod, a

their leaves dancing in the wind like they know something I don't. I close my eyes, breathing in deep. The farther we get fro

om comes

alls, when my mother cries, when my father rages? What happens when I'm no lon

And for once

that belongs to me and only me. A place where I c

den behind thick trees and wrapped in silence. Rustic, small, and stran

days," the driver says. "

ing my bag.

, the weight of what I've done finally sinking in. I

den beams, mismatched furniture that somehow fits together. I set down my bag an

or a pawn. I'm not a daughter weighed down by tradition and imag

*

quieted to a whisper. But insi

chipped ceramic mug I found in the cabinet. The tea was stale, probably expired, but it was warm

and I'd cursed more times in that hour than I have in my entire life. I didn't know how to s

ifying and

was a rebellion. Every

lowed my first full breath in what felt like years. I was jus

slow, deliberate footsteps echoed

*

ien'

or. Damien Delacroix-the heir to a powerful legacy, the man w

something far more volatile. A storm I've buried so deep i

, Manhattan glittering beneath me like a treasure ches

a Val

ne is a balm

than hearts. Valenci Industries and Delacroix Enterprises will mer

t galas, charity events, stiff boardroom dinners where she smiled like porcelain and

boardroom merger announcements, and the future. It's all

A sharp, frantic knock that

irritation tighte

r face unusually pale. She's holdi

ady feeling the shift in

. Selen

ve. "What

's g

le

lingers, but the

one? What the hel

er room, she was gone with a few personal items too. Her phone'

escapes befor

ce and pour a glass of scotch, my movements controll

I say flatly. "I'll

enci is demanding we send

er's sanity. I wonder if he even noticed how hollow she looked last week when we met

t say a

care enou

press, and the damn wedding. Somewhere under the irrit

trol people fo

. Luca, the storm I buried after h

ht off like ash f

reckless. She's quiet and she obeys. S

scotch and slam the gla

nica. "I want her found befor

s,

Mon

es

don't bring her

odded and left wi

back into my chair, finger

s forgetting one thing, she can