[Carter Mansion]
Evelyn woke with a heaviness in her chest that sleep had done nothing to soften.
The sunlight slipped through her curtains. It was soft and warm but she felt none of it.
Her mind kept replaying Alexander's face. The disappointment in his eyes, the hurt he didn't bother to hide and the way he turned and walked away before she had even found her voice.
She sat up slowly, hugging her knees to her chest.
He had asked her a question, a painful and vulnerable one.
And she froze, unable to explain herself. She failed to make him feel better and that was killing her since last night.
She didn't freeze because she wanted Jack or she doubted what she felt. She froze because his tone had caught every breath in her throat.
And now he thought her silence was an answer.
Her heart squeezed painfully. But she wasn't going to let it go.
She reached for her phone with her hands trembling slightly as she unlocked it.
