Aiden's fingers clenched around his phone as he listened to the voice on the other end. His expression hardened, the warmth in her eyes fading into something heavy and grave. He didn't say a word —just ended the call slowly and turned to Arwen.
The hesitation in his gaze was enough to make Arwen's heart lurch. An ominous chill crept up in her nerves, and she instinctively gripped the sheets in her hands, as if grounding herself against a storm she could already sense brewing.
"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly despite her effort to stay and sound calm. "Why are you looking like that? Everything is fine, right?"
"Moon," Aiden began slowly, his tone carrying both gentleness and gravity. "You need to stay strong. You can't fall apart ... not at this moment. Granna always wanted to see you strong. She —"
"S-she … she has left us?" Her voice dropped to a fragile whisper, as though she was terrified of the answer.
