Chapter 637: The Quiet That Broke and the Story That Followed
There had come a point when something in Sophia simply… stopped.
It had not been loud. It had not been sudden.
There had been no breaking sound, no sharp moment she could point to and say, this was when it happened.
It had been quieter than that.
A slow withdrawal.
A retreat into herself so complete that even she had not fully understood when it began.
She had stopped trying.
Stopped speaking unless she was spoken to.
Stopped moving unless she was told to.
And when she was left alone, she would fold in on herself, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs as she sat in the corner of her room, her forehead resting against her knees.
"It's not real," she would whisper.
Her voice small, barely audible even to her own ears.
"It's not real… it's not real… it's not real…"
She would repeat it over and over again, as though saying it enough times would make it true.
