CHAPTER 3: THE BROTHER WHO NEVER LEFT THE SHADOWS
The mansion felt different that night.
Not safer.
Just quieter in a way that felt wrong.
Eli did not come out of his room.
But for the first time, he didn’t hide completely either.
He left his door slightly open.
Grace noticed that first.
Small change.
Huge meaning.
She sat outside his room on the floor.
Not speaking.
Just existing close enough that silence didn’t feel like abandonment.
Inside, she heard soft movement.
Then—
a sound.
A pencil scratching paper.
Her breath caught.
Two years of silence.
And now this.
Downstairs, Damon stood in his private office.
Carson watched him carefully.
“You’re going after him?” Carson asked.
Damon’s voice was flat.
“Yes.”
Carson hesitated.
“He’s family.”
Damon finally looked at him.
“That’s the problem.”
Grace found Damon later in the hallway.
“You’re going to kill him,” she said.
Damon didn’t deny it.
“That’s not justice,” Grace said.
Damon’s eyes darkened slightly.
“You think I don’t know that?”
A pause.
Then softer:
“I just don’t know what else replaces it.”
Grace stepped closer.
“Your son does.”
May you like
That stopped him.
For the first time.
