Chloe entered the study with Silence in tow and then locked the door with a soft click that felt louder than it should have.
The room smelled like old paper, ink, and the faint trace of jasmine from the sachet she kept in the drawers. She didn't look at him. She went straight to the window and looked outside.
The estate gardens were quiet. Just the pale moonlight cutting across the hedges, making everything look still. Too still.
Her expression was calm. The kind of calm that people mistook for peace. But inside, her chest was a storm. Her fingers gripped the edge of the windowsill until her knuckles went white, then forced themselves to relax.
She stood there for a full five minutes without talking.
Silence didn't hurry her. That was the thing about him. He could wait in a room full of fire and never flinch. He let her think. Let her find the best way to say what she had clearly already decided.
The air between them grew heavy. He could feel it pressing against his ribs.
