Ace inhaled sharply. Miku stiffened.
One of the newcomers—Avery—pressed back tears but held them in, determined not to appear weak.
Giana finally looked at Ross again, guilt and desperation mixing in her eyes.
"I'm truly sorry, Ross. We were out of options. We didn't know where else to go. We didn't mean to bring danger to your home."
Silence settled—thick, suffocating, everyone waiting for Ross's reaction.
Would he kick them out?
Would he scold them?
Would he refuse to involve himself?
Would he see them as burdens… liabilities?
But Ross simply stood there, unreadable, observing them with those calm, piercing eyes—
—and for the first time since they arrived, all five women understood one thing very clearly:
They had entered the home of someone far more dangerous than anything that chased them.
"It doesn't matter," Ross said, waving away their panic as though it were nothing more than dust in the air.
His presence alone steadied the room.
