" Cleo's not doing well . I need to go back for a while . Can you sign this travel clearance ? " He didn't even read it . Just scribbled his name and handed it back " Sure , Go . Take care of our kid . " He didn't ask what was wrong with Cleo . Didn't ask how bad it was . He didn't care . He was already smiling again , like my absence was a favor ! I left the mansion before sunrise . The soup pot still sat on the table , untouched . Cold . Just like everything else in that house . Torren didn't even say goodbye . The drive to my father's estate took six hours . The gates were taller than I remembered . Black iron with the Calderon crest at the center , flanked by clipped hedges and grim - faced guards in gray uniforms . Everything looked the same , like it had been frozen in time . But I had changed . I was thinner . Older Worn down in places I didn't know how to mend . " I stepped out of the car and walked up alone . No maid came to greet me . No butler opened the grand double doors . The estate was silent Watching . Then the door creaked open , and there he was . Duke Rafe Calderon . He didn't smile . He didn't welcome me . His silver hair was slicked back like always , his suit crisp , his expression carved in stone . " You ," he said . " You are the daughter who buried our name for love . " I stood straight , even if my knees ached from the ride . I didn't cry . I didn't flinch . I had already done enough of that in Torren's house . I looked my father in the eye and said , " The wedding proposal you offered me eight years ago . Is it still open ?" Silence . I could hear the wind through the marble columns . The distant clang of the gardener's shears . Somewhere behind him , the staff had gathered like shadows . Listening.8 Finally , my father spoke . " No. That man is already married now . To someone whose family did not shame me . " He started to close the door . I didn't move . I just held his stare . Then he stopped . His hand on the handle . " But , " he said slowly , his younger brother is unmarried . Your sister was meant to marry him , but she wants to finish her studies first . " He studied me the way he used to study business mergers . Cold . Calculated . " If you are willing ," he said , " the seat is open . " & I didn't ask questions . lididn't pretend to be offended . I just nodded once . I would marry whoever he wanted . Not for pride . Not even for Cleo anymore . Just for survival . For strategy . For whatever came next . They gave me a guest room . It smelled like dust and lemon polish . All my old photos had been taken down . Even the staff wouldn't look me in the eye . It was like I had already died eight years ago and just came back to haunt them . That night , after dinner , I was told to meet him . The younger brother . The forgotten prince . His name was Ephraim Lambert . He was sitting in the old observatory , alone , dressed in black . The room was dimly lit. His features were delicate but sharp , like glass that had once shattered but had been glued back together with care . I had expected tubes , weakness , blank stares . But he stood when I entered . movement I made … Like he studied me for a long time . He moved slowly , but not clumsily . His eyes tracked every m " So ," he said quietly , " the runaway bride returns . " paulda's fed wards Tall mot 0 I couldn't find words . Tell me ," he said , " did you come here for redemption or revenge ? " I bit my lip . Not to flirt . Not to act coy . Just to keep from trembling . He chuckled softly and turned away . I looked out the arched window where the moonlight touched the glass floor . " Go ," he said . " Come back once your divorce is final ." I wanted to thank him . I wanted to tell him it was not that easy but I couldn't speak . [ So I left.X I closed the door behind me and walked back to the cold room that had no blankets , no pictures , no trace of me . And I sat on the edge of the bed , staring at the floor . " Just breathing . Just trying to remember who I was before love ruined me . Before grief hollowed me out . Before I became this quiet ghost.E -X I did not sleep . The sun came up , but it never felt like morning . Just a new layer of silence on top of the old one . I got up anyway . My body still moved on its own . Like it had done every day since Cleo got sick . Like it forgot what rest meant . The halls of my father's estate were cold . Still . The kind of silence you do not speak into . No one said good morning . No one looked at me . I sat at the long dining table and ate a piece of dry toast that turned to dust in my mouth . No butter . No coffee . Just quiet.E Then my phone rang . Torren's name on the screen . J'answered without thinking . " We're heading out ," he said . " Jude wanted to try parasailing . Ruby couldn't say no . You know how she is . " 8 He laughed like it was some little joke between us . Like we were still partners . Like Cleo had never existed . " My parents are dropping by the mansion later . Can you assist them while they're there ? " I swallowed . " Alright . " " Thanks ," he said , then hung up . No mention of the date . No mention of Cleo . Today was his birthday . Cleo's & I told my father I would return to the mansion . I said I would be back once the divorce was finalized . He didn't say anything . Just drank his coffee and kept reading the newspaper . Like I had never left eight years ago . Like I had never come back . - I got in the car and returned to that glass mansion . The one that never felt like home . And as I stepped inside , I remembered what day it was . ! Cleo's birthday . !! My hands started to tremble . I went straight to my room . The only part of this house that still held him . I lit a small candle beside his photo and the pink urn that sat under it . His favorite dinosaur plush was still there too , sitting against the wall like it was waiting for him to come back and grab it . No one remembered . " No calls . No flowers . Not a single message . Not from Torren . Not from his family . They were too busy celebrating Jude .