EMMA POV
The house felt large.
Each sound carried. My shoes hit the marble. The air was still.
I stood by the window. The garden moved under a gray sky. Reporters had once waited there. The same place. The same house.
Charles had spoken for me. Ethan had stayed silent.
It did not feel like peace. It felt like being watched.
A knock came.
"Come in," I said.
An older woman entered. Her hair was neat under a white cap. Her voice was steady.
"Mrs. Ryder," she said. "I am Alice. Mr. Charles asked me to help you."
Her tone was gentle. I was not used to it.
"Thank you," I said. The name Mrs. Ryder felt strange.
Alice smiled. "Let me show you around. Things have changed since you left."
Her words were careful.
I nodded.
We walked through the hall. Her steps were firm. Mine were slow.
"This is the east wing," she said. "Mr. Ethan's study is here. The library too. The staff work in the kitchen each morning."
I touched the wall. It smelled of cedar.
"You have been here long?"
"Twenty-two years," she said. "I watched Ethan grow up. He stole sweets and blamed the dog."
I almost smiled. "That sounds like him."
"He has his mother's temper and his father's eyes," she said. "Trouble and kindness in one face."
Her words stayed in my mind.
"Thank you, Alice," I said.
"Dinner is at eight," she said. "Ring the bell if you need help."
She left.
I leaned on the wall. The portraits above watched.
Men and women from his family. All dressed in pride.
I wondered what they saw now. The bride who ran. The one brought back.
My phone buzzed. Clara.
"Emma?" she said. "Your name is everywhere. The papers. The blogs. What happened?"
"I'm home," I said.
"Home? After everything he did?"
"Clara. Not now."
She went quiet. "Alright. But call me later."
"I will," I said and ended the call.
The screen went dark. My reflection looked back.
The same eyes Alice spoke of. Ethan's mother's eyes.
I turned toward the hall. The air smelled of old perfume.
Footsteps moved in the distance. Slow. Clear.
Maybe Ethan. Maybe someone else.
I listened.
In this house, silence came before noise.
Ethan POV
The papers were still on the table when I got downstairs.
My name, and hers. Twisted into each other like dirt you just can't scrub away.
"Ryder's Missing Bride Returns. Inside the Scandal That Shook the Family."
I stared at it until the ink blurred. Lucas' smug face shined from the corner. He loved it. He always did.
I pressed my thumb down hard until the paper ripped, folded it into a harsh crease and left it behind.
The house was too silent. Her silent.
When I turned the corner to the hall, I saw her.
Emma was frozen by the window like light caught her in motion. Hair grazed over her shoulder. The pale fabric drifted around like a soft, too soft material for this home.
I held my ground for a moment. Observing.
She didn't move, but I felt that she knew I was there. Her fingers tightened against the pane of glass.
Those words I had planned to say—were gone.
Jingling down the hall came Hazel's collar. Quick, bright, careless.
Emma's head snapped toward me.
Hazel came into view, golden fur flashed against the morning sun, paws skidding against the wood floor.
"Hazel," I said, softly, louder.
She didn't slow her roll.
Emma took a step back; one heel graced the edge of the runner; she lost her footing. Her fingers let go of nothing.
Everything moved in synchronized chaos; the paper I'd left on the table behind me flapped down to the floor between my feet; I heard her breath quicken—a sharp inhale and Hazel's nails scrape against my hardwood.
My body moved before processing thought.
She finally saw me, eyes wide for the first time that day. Startled.
Hazel jumped up on her; tail high and wagging like a blurry metronome in a world stuck still.
Emma gasped
And then,
Silence hung in the space between us.
The moment split, waiting to fall.