Chapter 14

I spent my days curled up on the window seat, watching the snow fall. Nathan would try to engage, but I could barely muster the energy to respond. The silence felt safer than whatever this twisted reality had become.

“What would make you happy?” he asked one evening, his voice dripping with false concern.

I glanced up from my book. “I miss Lucy. Could I see her?”

He smiled that practiced smile. “You’re still recovering. Why not have her visit instead?”

My heart skipped – a possibility I hadn’t dared hope for. “Really?”

He brushed my hair back, a gesture that once brought comfort but now made my skin crawl. “Anything for you,

sweetheart.”

True to his word, he brought Lucy up the mountain the next day.

She rushed to hug me, her warmth so familiar it hurt. “Emma! God, so this is where you’ve been hiding – some fancy

mountain retreat!”

her tight, joy and terror warring in

I was trying to slip her my carefully folded note, Nathan’s casual question stopped me cold: “How’s

to the undercurrent. “Dad’s so excited, he convinced the whole family to go all in!

not pull out on us!” She laughed, the sound echoing off the high ceilings. “Or we’re completely ruined!”

“Of course not. Emma’s friends are family.”

meaning was

to me, all warmth and concern. “Isn’t it nice having friends visit, darling?”

I nodded mechanically.

later, he brought

me. “Last time I saw you, you were

her story all too well – the gambling father, brother in

couldn’t risk it. Not

the courtyard after the snow, the fresh powder making everything look deceptively peaceful. Our laughter carried across the grounds – probably the only

06:49

Love, Seven

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