Chapter 4 — The Silent Wife

Gabi

The Arivonese Estate loomed before me, its marble façade gleaming coldly in the dim light of the setting sun. For a moment, I stood frozen at the entrance, the heavy iron gates clicking shut behind me with a resounding finality. The sound reverberated through my bones, locking me into this world—a world I didn’t know, couldn’t imagine, but would now have to inhabit. My fingers toyed with the chain of my locket beneath my blouse, the cool metal grounding me as I forced myself forward.