Bound by Blood, Broken by Fate
Final Arc: When Ghosts Learn to Breathe Again
Chapter 30: The Woman Without a Past
Five years later.
Tristana Rodriguez walks through the halls of the estate like a shadow wearing skin.
She is elegant. Composed. Obedient.
Empty.
Servants step aside for her, bowing their heads, but none meet her eyes. There's something unsettling about her stillness—like standing too close to a grave that hasn't decided if it's done swallowing the dead.
Cristoff no longer needs to raise his hand.
There's nothing left in her to break.
"Come," he tells her one evening, adjusting his cuffs. "We have guests arriving from the northern territories."
She nods once.
"Of course."
Her voice is soft. Polite.
Unfeeling.