Chapter 1 - The Weight of Silence
Maya sat on the edge of the guest room bed, the silence of the east wing suffocating. She expected the guards to drag her out, or worse, for Dominic to come back with a suitcase and a severance package. She replayed the scene in her mind: Vincent’s bruised cheek, the look of utter betrayal in his watery eyes, and the sound of her own palm connecting with Evelyn’s skin. It was professional suicide, but looking at the bruise on the old man’s face, she’d do it again.
The door clicked open. It wasn't the guards. It was Dominic. He stood in the doorway, his silhouette blocking the hallway light. He didn’t say a word as he paced into the room. He walked to the window, staring out at the sprawling estate.
"He hasn't spoken in three weeks," Dominic said, his voice flat. "The doctors said he was done. Checked out of life." He turned to face her. "Why did he speak to you?"
Maya stood up, meeting his gaze. "Because you aren't listening to him. Nobody here is."
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Dominic’s jaw tightened. "I run an empire, Maya. I don't have time to decipher the whims of a man lost in his own past."
"Then you don't deserve to run it," Maya countered. The room went deathly cold. She didn't blink.
