THE COST OF SILENCE
Several days passed.
Guards were repositioned. Routes were adjusted.
Protection, disguised as control.
"You don't trust me," Runa said one evening, the bitterness slipping out before she could stop it.
Eli didn't look up from the tablet in her hands. "Trust," she said evenly, "gets people killed."
Runa let out a short, hollow laugh. "Is that what you call this?" She gestured vaguely at the walls, the cameras, the quiet. "Safety?"
Eli's jaw tightened, a muscle jumping in her cheek. "You don't understand the consequences of what you do, Runa. You play with fire and then wonder why the house is burning."
"I understand them perfectly," Runa shot back. "You just don't like that I won't accept them."
She took a breath, then pushed forward, the words tumbling out sharp and unrestrained.
"Cant you see, Yor family even clip your own child's wings. Toni wants to be an actress. With all the money and power your family has, she could have a life. Her own dreams."
The air in the room dropped several degrees.
Runa's words didn't just hang there—they cut through the sterile atmosphere of the Vale estate like a jagged blade.
Eli finally looked up. Her expression was controlled, unreadable, but the slight flare of her nostrils betrayed her.
"You think it's about money?" Eli said, her voice a low, dangerous hum. "You think we haven't considered buying her a studio? Buying her the best reviews in the world?"
"Then do it," Runa snapped, stepping closer, her shadow falling across Eli's desk. "Let her be Antonette—the actress. Not Toni—the asset. You have enough power to bend the world to your will, yet you use it to turn this house into a morgue for living people."
Eli stood slowly.
She was taller than Runa, and in the dim light she looked like something carved from obsidian—beautiful, sharp, unyielding.
"Power isn't about getting what you want," Eli said. "It's about what you have to hide to keep it. A Vale in the public eye is a target. A Vale with a dream is a liability."
"She's a human being!"
"She is the daughter of Roman Vale," Eli shot back, her voice cracking just enough to reveal the strain beneath it. "And in this world, that means she belongs to the legacy before she belongs to herself."
"Did you ever think she might not want this life?" Runa asked quietly.
Eli didn't answer.
"Do you think she has a choice?" Eli snap
Runa shook her head, pity softening her voice. "You've spent so long being a bird in a cage that you've started to love the bars, Eli. And you're so terrified of the sky that you'd rather see your sister grounded than happy."
Eli's eyes flashed—electric blue igniting with something raw and unguarded.
For a second, Runa thought she might finally break.
A flicker crossed Eli's face.
Then the mask snapped back into place.
Without a word, Eli turned and left.
That night, the estate slept.
Runa lay awake in the dark, staring at the shadows crawling along the ceiling.
Then—
Click.
The sound of the door handle turning was almost silent, but in the vacuum of the room, it sounded like a gunshot. Runa shot upright, her heart hammering against her ribs.
"Who's there?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
Jason slipped inside, closing the door behind him with a slow, deliberate care that made Runa's blood turn to ice.
"Relax," he murmured, his voice a low, oily caress. "Everyone's asleep. I just thought we should have a talk."
"Get out, Jason."
He ignored her, taking a slow step into the moonlight. "You really shouldn't have tried to run, little mouse. You think you'd keep it a secret."
Runa backed away until her shoulders hit the headboard. "I said get out. Now."
Jason's hand flashed out, gripping her wrist with bruising force. Runa screamed, the sound muffled by the heavy drapes of the room.
He shoved her back onto the mattress, his other hand clamping over her mouth, his eyes dark with a sudden, sharp malice. "You just need to listen," he hissed, his face inches from hers. "You don't get to say no to a Vale."
Jason's other hand tore at the silk of her nightgown, the fabric ripping with a sound that seemed to echo through the room. Runa struggled beneath him, her movements frantic but useless against his weight. The metallic taste of fear filled her mouth as Jason's knee forced her legs apart.
"Please," she managed to gasp, his hand momentarily loosening over her mouth. "Don't do this."
Jason laughed, a low, cruel sound that vibrated against her skin. "You should have learned your place by now." His breath was hot against her neck as he fumbled with his belt, the buckle clinking ominously in the darkness. "This is what happens when you try to run."
Runa's mind raced, searching for escape, but Jason's body pinned her down, his intentions horrifyingly clear. The cold air hit her exposed skin as he pushed her nightgown higher, his hands rough and possessive.
The door burst open.
Jason barely had time to turn before Eli slammed into him, ripping him away from Runa and throwing him across the room. He hit the wall hard, air knocked from his lungs.
"Touch her again," Eli said coldly, stepping between him and Runa, "and I'll bury you."
Her voice dropped—low, lethal.
"I won't let you do it again."
Jason staggered upright, fury blazing. "You think you can threaten me?"
Eli didn't answer.
She punched him.
Once.
Twice.
Jason lunged—but Eli was faster. She drove him to the floor, knee pinning his chest, fist hovering inches from his throat.
"Get out," she said. "Now."
Jason laughed breathlessly. "You think I didn't know what happened.You think you can hide secrets. Toni's little audition"
Jason laughed, a wet, breathless sound. "You think I didn't know? About the audition? About you letting Toni go and almost letting Runa escape? You're compromised, Eli. You're weak."
Eli's hand trembled, but she didn't move. Jason shoved her off and retreated, a sneer plastered on his face as he vanished into the hallway.
Toni, drawn by the commotion, rushed in. Runa collapsed into Toni's arms, sobbing.
The younger twin, froze for a half-second in the doorway, her eyes wide with shock as she took in the scene: Runa's torn nightgown, the wild terror in her eyes, and the predatory shadow of Jason's retreat down the hall. Then her protective instincts kicked in.
"Runa, what happened? Are you okay?" Toni's voice trembled as she wrapped her arms around the shaking girl, pulling her close. She could feel Runa's heart hammering against her chest, each beat a frantic drum of terror.
"Ill tell Father or Althea"
Runa couldn't speak, could only gasp for air between ragged sobs that wracked her entire body. Her fingers clutched desperately at Toni's silk pajamas, as if the younger girl were her only anchor in a storm of violence.
"He... he tried..." Runa finally managed to choke out, the words barely intelligible through her tears.
Toni's eyes flashed toward the hallway, then to her sister standing guard at the door—Eli's back rigid as steel, her knuckles white where she gripped the doorframe. The unspoken question hung between them, heavy and suffocating.
"Jason?" Toni whispered, though she already knew the answer.
When Runa nodded against her shoulder, Toni's face hardened with a fury Eli had never seen in her before. The actress, the dreamer, the bubbly sister—gone. In her place stood something else entirely.
Eli didn't touch her. She didn't offer a hug. She simply stood guard at the door, her back to the room—a silent, bloodied barrier.