CHAPTER 154
KATYA POV
It was almost midnight when I finally stepped out of Nonna's room. The door clicked shut softly behind me, the sound too loud in the quiet corridor.
The house felt different at this hour. Emptier, like it was holding its breath after everything that had happened.
The chandeliers along the hallway had been dimmed, their glow low and tired, casting long shadows that stretched across the carpet.
I stood there for a second, hand still hovering near the door, listening.
Nothing. No voices. No laughter. No music drifting up from the ballroom anymore. Just silence and the distant sound of the house settling into itself.
Nonna hadn't said much after that. She'd let me help her change, let me tuck the shawl around her shoulders, let me sit beside her while she stared out the window like she was searching for something that wasn't there.
When I finally asked if she wanted to sleep, she nodded heavily. "You should rest too," she'd told me.
