Sophia's eyes burned into me, arms crossed in that stubborn way she always had when she refused to back down. "Ellie is not just any guest in this house, big brother. She's family to me, and if you are planning to hurt her, then you will be answering to me."
Charlie lingered by the wall, silent but steady, letting the tension breathe. I hated that he was right, and I hated more that Sophia could see what I was trying so hard to bury.
I forced my voice to stay cold and clipped.
"The current situation is bigger than what you think, Soph. She doesn't understand what it means to be tied to us."
Sophia's eyes narrowed. "Then isn't it your job to make her understand? Are you planning to push her away just because you think she doesn't understand anything? At this point, I think your attitude of pushing her away is just because you're too much of a coward to face your own feelings, big brother."
The word "coward" stung hard. Sophia rarely struck that low with her words. I can feel my jaw tighten, but then she pressed on, unrelenting with her demand.
"You think keeping her at the arm's length will protect her? It won't, Tristan. Trust me, all that you're doing now is only breaking her before she even knows what she is in for and she is far stronger that what you are think."
My silence betrayed me, and Charlie glanced between us, with his quiet sigh filling the room.
For a moment, I wanted to tell Sophia everything. I want to tell her the danger of this business, the shadows I'd been dragging on my shoulders and the parts of me that no could ever touch without being scarred.
Yet, the words never came out because I couldn't give her that truth, not yet.
So I said nothing, and Sophia's disappointment cut deeper than her anger. The room falls into a deep silence, as if mourning the future that wasn't in place yet.
-
I hadn't meant to eavesdrop. I'd only came to look for Sophia to help unpack her bags and steal a moment of comfort after a sleepless night, but their voices carried down the hall, sharp enough to root me in place.
"…Ellie is not just any guest in this house. She's family to me."
My breath got caught in my throat. Sophia's words warmed me, but Tristan's reply was so cold and distant that it sent a chill down my spine.
"She doesn't understand what it means to be tied to us."
This tone is as if the finality and I could feel like hearing a door slam shut in my face.
I pressed my hand against the wall and my chest tightening. Was that what he truly thought? That I didn't belong here, that no matter how many nights I'd laughed of with Sophia in these halls, no matter how many times his mother had welcomed me with open arms? Is that what he'd been thinking about me this whole time?
Sophia's voice rose again, fierce and protective. "All you're doing is breaking her before she even knows what she is in for and she is far stronger than what you think."
Tears pricked my eyes. My feet itched to leave, but my heart ached to stay, desperate for any scrap of warmth that may hidden beneath his silence.
But then the silence came heavy and suffocating.
That is when I knew that he wasn't even denying it. He wasn't even fighting for me or for us, and that truth hurt me more than when my father left me back then.
I slipped back down the hall, wiping at my eyes before Sophia could find me. What I didn't see was Tristan stepping out of the study moments later, catching only the sight of my retreating figure.
His face hardened not with anger, but with a torment he could no longer name.