"I never said I regretted it."
Her eyes lifted to his.
She smiled but it was small. Fragile.
"Your eyes did," she murmured.
Then she walked past him.
And the truth burned.
She didn't believe him.
She had asked him to let her come with them.
He refused without hesitation.
Before she could argue further, he took Mathieu and left for the hospital follow-up. She tried to reason with him, telling him it made more sense for her to stay by her brother's side but the excuses he gave were flimsy at best. Illogical. Forced.
And now she was alone.
The house felt too big when it was quiet. The silence pressed against her ears until it felt like it was breathing down her neck.
Instead of retreating to her own room, she wandered into Damien's.
A small smile curved her lips.
"Hi, Red. Or should I say… Coco?" she murmured as she approached the birdcage.
The bird perked up immediately, chirping as if genuinely pleased to see her.
