Villain Ch 1552. I See It Too
The dinner wound down in comfortable silence, with plates cleared away and warm tea served as a closing ritual.
Allen offered a polite nod to Kai, and a tired half-smile to Emma, who was now dramatically fighting off a dessert coma on the plush settee nearby.
He didn't say much as he stood and left the dining room. He didn't have to.
His steps down the hall were slow, steady. Not sluggish, not sharp. Just… relaxed. Like he'd let go of something he'd been gripping too tightly for too long. The kind of walk that said, 'I'm giving myself permission to live slow tonight.'
The air outside his room was cooler. Still. A little cleaner, the scent of fresh linen drifting from the open windows where house staff had turned down the hall lights for the night. His phone buzzed again—but it was just a system notification. He ignored it.
The earlier text from his stepdad still echoed faintly in the back of his mind, but Allen… he'd won that round.
