IVY'S POV
The rest of the family were already seated by the time I arrived, their presence arranged neatly.
Nicholas's mother shifted the moment her eyes landed on me, the movement was small but noticeable, as though my mere existence unsettled something in her.
Nicholas cleared his throat, the sound sharp enough to slice through the moment and pull me back into place. His hand tapped lightly against the chair beside him, a silent command I had already learned not to question. Sit.
I obeyed, lowering myself carefully into the seat, discomfort settled into my bones almost immediately, like something I carried with me wherever I went in this fortress.
My gaze drifted across the table again, slower this time, more deliberate, searching for something that had been sitting at the edge of my thoughts since earlier, but she wasn't there. The little girl. The absence felt louder than it should have. Why was she never here? Why did no one speak of her?
