Kathryna could not believe what she had just overheard. The words still clung to her ears, but she could not make sense of it.
She stood frozen for several moments, staring at Helena's retreating back as the young woman swept down the corridor in a flurry of silk and barely contained emotion.
The sound of another door opening snapped Kathryna from her thoughts, and Aidan stepped out.
He glanced at her briefly, his eyes skimming over her face, then down and back up in a slow, deliberate sweep as if assessing a stranger.
There was no flicker of recognition, no trace of the usual friction that always flared between them. Instead, he simply brushed past her, the faint scent of his cologne lingering in the air as his shoulder slid by hers.
Kathryna's brows knit together. This was not their usual dynamic. Aidan had never been the type to let an opportunity for a cutting remark slip past him, and yet here he was, walking away without so much as a sneer.
It was strange.
