"Aveline… I was at the court last week. Damien Ashford's lawyers were there, asking for his absence."
Even after Gabriel's footsteps faded from the penthouse, the silence he left behind was deafening.
Aveline sat still, her fingers unconsciously digging into her palm. 'Absence.' It was such an ordinary word, yet it pressed like ice against her skin.
It made her wonder if prison was no longer a wall to stop Damien, but a revolving door Damien could step through whenever he pleased.
Her chest tightened with that thought. She had worked so hard to move forward, ignoring his images forming in her mind as she carefully took steps into a future that no longer included him.
And yet, with one word, her memories of seeing Damien on strangers' faces flooded back. For a brief moment, she didn't know if the fear flooding her veins was real or just another imagination of her mind playing.
