Avery had just finished her shower, leaning against the headboard as the soft glow of her phone screen lit up the dark room. The last message from Grace, "Go to bed early," was still pinned at the top of their chat.
She typed back, "Good night, Mom," and stared at the "Read" receipt for a long time.
The city was quiet at night, so quiet that she could hear the sound of her own heartbeat.
She was tired.
Work, her mother's illness, and Lucien's attention—attention that seemed casual on the surface but felt like an invisible string tied to her, pulling, reminding her she couldn't afford to let her guard down for even a second.
Just before midnight, her phone buzzed.
Seeing Lucien's name on the screen made her heart skip.
She hesitated for a moment before answering.
There was silence on the other end, only the faint sound of wind outside the window.
"…Mr. Lucien?" she called out softly.
His low voice finally came through, deep and quiet in the night. "Are you asleep?"
"Just lying down." She pulled the blanket up, switching the phone to her other hand, her fingers pale under the soft light.
"Don't dwell on what happened today," he said, his tone calm yet leaving no room for refusal.
Avery paused, letting out a small laugh. "Mr. Lucien, I won't let a few words affect my work."
There was a brief silence.
"And don't mind what Leah said either." His voice came again, like an afterthought, but there was a hint of reassurance in it.
Avery lowered her eyes, her tone even. "What she says doesn't concern me."
It sounded like Lucien let out a faint laugh, so soft it was hard to decipher. "You're always this stubborn."
Avery didn't respond.
The only sounds left were their breaths, quiet and overlapping. The warmth of the phone against her palm made her skin feel hot.
"Mr. Lucien, if there's nothing else, I'd like to get some rest." She said this while staring at the ceiling, unconsciously biting her lower lip.
On the other end, he seemed to pause before speaking, his voice dropping lower. "Alright. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
When Avery ended the call, she kept staring at the now-black screen, her heartbeat suddenly out of rhythm.
She didn't understand why he would call her this late at night.
If it was concern, she didn't dare to believe it.
If it was something else, she didn't dare to guess.
But that one word, "Goodnight," from Lucien, fell into the quiet night like a stone dropping into water, leaving ripples she couldn't calm.
Lucien set his phone down and stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out at the endless lights of the city.
He rarely called anyone to say goodnight. Even he couldn't explain why, after seeing her standing alone in the night wind, something in his chest had tightened.
He didn't like this feeling.
Yet somehow, he couldn't stop himself.
Outside, the night wind brushed against rooftops, gently tapping on the windows.
Avery turned over in bed, pulling the blanket up to her nose, eyes shut tight.
But Lucien's "Goodnight" still echoed in her ears, making it impossible to fall asleep.