Chapter 105: Fractures and Certainties

The villa is silent. Too silent. 

I'm in the bedroom, sitting in the armchair by the window, knees tucked under me, one hand resting on my rounded belly. 

Alessandro is here. I feel it. 

He's in the next room, likely talking with Matteo, or maybe just sitting on the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees, staring blankly into space. 

But he doesn't come. 

Since our clash, since I pushed back against his latest attempt to control me, something between us has shattered. 

He didn't insist. 

Not yet. 

But I know him. 

He isn't the type to tolerate me slipping away for long. 

A shiver runs through me as I close my eyes, trying to ignore the crushing weight of the silence. 

Downstairs, I hear Mila and Léo. 

My son's light laughter echoes in the hall, carefree, piercing the icy aura that's lingered for three days. 

Three days since Alessandro and I became strangers under the same roof.