The distance began quietly – not cold, not obvious – but Lucien noticed it immediately. Seraphina spoke normally during breakfast the next morning. She reviewed reports beside him in the living room later that afternoon. She answered questions calmly during security briefings and discussed legal containment strategies with the same composed intelligence she always carried.
To anyone else, it seemed that nothing had changed, but for Lucien, everything had shifted because she had stopped reaching for him without realising it, and her small unconscious habits had vanished overnight. She no longer moved closer during tense conversations, and she no longer relaxed visibly when he entered a room. Even her silence felt measured now, as though she were carefully controlling emotional distance one decision at a time.
This meant that she had already begun to consider leaving before actually voicing it, and that realisation weighed heavily on his chest.
