The masculine scent of the duvet was the first thing I noticed when my eyes shot open.
The room wasn't mine.
Curtains were already drawn open and sunlight had flooded everything, too bright, too early. I sat up slowly, trying to process where I was when a sound from the bathroom made me freeze.
My body went alert instantly.
"Who is there?" I called out, still sitting on the bed.
No answer.
The sound stopped.
A moment later, footsteps followed, and a woman came into view.
She wasn't familiar.
Not one of the servants I had seen last night.
She wore a simple blue bodycon dress, holding cleaning supplies like she had been working already.
My unease sharpened.
"Um… who are you?" I asked.
She paused immediately, looking just as uncomfortable as I felt.
"Ma'am… my name is Maria. I'm one of the cleaners for the penthouse. I was assigned to clean this room today," she said quickly.
Her voice shook slightly.
It was strange how even Sebastian's presence, even when he wasn't in the room, still made people tense.
"Don't you think you should have waited for me to wake up?" I asked, more firmly than I intended.
"I'm sorry," she said immediately. "That was not my intention."
Her hands trembled as she spoke, and I noticed how she tried to hide it.
Was this what I did to people now?
"I'm really sorry, ma'am. I wanted to wait, but Sir Sebastian insisted the room be cleaned before you woke up."
Of course.
There he was again, deciding things that didn't belong to him.
I exhaled slowly, rubbing my temple.
"Where is he?" I asked before I could stop myself.
The question lingered longer than I wanted it to.
The memory of last night flashed briefly in my mind—his eyes, cold and unreadable, the way he stood like he already knew everything I didn't.
I pushed it away.
"It's fine," I said finally, waving her off.
The cleaner bowed slightly and quickly returned to her work, clearly relieved.
I stayed sitting there for a moment after she left.
The room felt too quiet again.
Too controlled.
And even though he wasn't here, it still felt like him everywhere.
I lay back down, telling myself I just needed a few more minutes.
But the moment my eyes closed, my mind drifted straight back to him.
His voice.
His presence.
The way he always looked at me like I was already part of something I didn't understand.
My chest tightened.
Hatred came first.
Then anger.
And something else I couldn't name followed right behind it, sitting heavier than the rest.
I turned into the pillow, trying to bury it all.
But it didn't leave.
It only stayed louder.
It was noon now. The sun had shifted higher, filling the room with a dull warmth, but I was still stuck in bed.
I kept trying to sleep, but it wouldn't come. No matter how much I closed my eyes, my mind refused to settle.
Eventually, I gave up and pulled the duvet over myself, hiding beneath it like it could shield me from something… or someone.
The room felt too still like that.
Every small sound made my body tense. A footstep in the distance. A door somewhere opening. I'd go completely quiet, holding my breath without even realizing it.
I kept expecting it to be him.
But it never was.
And I knew that, because no one moved like Sebastian. No one sounded so controlled, so deliberate, like even their footsteps had purpose.
Still, my body reacted every time anyway.
Waiting.
Listening.
And hating how even silence in this place felt like it belonged to him.
By the time the silence in the room started feeling heavier than usual, my stomach reminded me I hadn't eaten all day.
I hesitated for a bit, just listening.
Nothing.
No footsteps. No voices. No Sebastian.
Just that same controlled quiet that seemed to stick to the place even when he wasn't around.
Eventually, I got up.
The house felt different outside the room. Too big, too still, like it didn't really know what to do without him in it.
I moved downstairs slowly, my hand brushing the railing as I went. Everything still smelled clean, expensive, untouched in that way that didn't feel comforting at all.
The dining area was empty.
No servants. No Sebastian. No trace of him at the table like before.
Just space.
I stood there for a moment, unsure why I even felt like I should be looking for him. My eyes still moved around anyway, like he might just appear somewhere if I looked long enough.
But he didn't.
Of course he didn't.
I sighed quietly and walked further in, trying to ignore how aware I was of every sound I made.
That was when I heard it.
A door opening near the entrance.
I paused.
Footsteps followed.
But they weren't his.
I knew that instantly.
Sebastian didn't walk like that. His steps were too controlled, too deliberate. Like even silence answered to him.
These ones were different. Lighter, sharper. Still controlled, but in a trained way, not a forced one.
I stayed where I was.
Then she walked in.
And she didn't hesitate.
She just… came in like she already belonged there.
Tall. Straight posture. Military presence that didn't need explaining. Even her uniform carried weight, decorated and structured in a way that said she didn't need permission for anything.
Her eyes landed on me almost immediately.
Stayed there.
I didn't move.
She tilted her head slightly.
"So you're her," she said.
It wasn't rude. Just direct.
I blinked once. "And you are?"
I asked even though I could recognize her straight away.
"His sister."
That shifted something in the air immediately.
She stepped further in, still watching me, not in a hostile way, just… like she was trying to understand what she was looking at.
"I came because I heard my little brother got married," she said flatly. "Without telling anyone."
My chest tightened a little at the word married.
Still, I held her gaze.
"That wasn't my decision," I said.
"I can tell," she replied without hesitation.
That should've sounded insulting, but it didn't. It just sounded like she was stating what she saw.
She stopped a few steps away from me.
For a moment, she didn't say anything else.
Just looked.
Then she exhaled lightly, almost like she was thinking out loud.
"You look like someone trying to stand still in a place that doesn't let you," she said.
I frowned slightly. "What does that mean?"
A faint shrug.
"It means you're either going to break here," she said, "or you'll learn how not to."
I didn't respond.
She glanced around the house briefly, like she already understood more than she was saying.
"My brother doesn't do anything without a reason," she added. "So whatever this is… you're already inside it."
That wasn't comforting.
It wasn't meant to be.
The silence between us stretched, but it didn't feel tense. Just heavy.
Then she spoke again, softer this time.
"Don't let him decide everything for you."
I blinked. "What?"
She looked back at me.
"Test your limits," she said. "If you stay folded inside someone else's rules for too long, you forget how to move on your own."
A pause.
Then, almost like it wasn't meant to be dramatic at all—
"You've got wings. Don't let anyone convince you they're small."
Something in my chest tightened, and I hated that I didn't know why.
She straightened slightly, like she was done here.
"I won't stay long," she said. "Just wanted to see what kind of situation my brother got himself into."
She turned, then paused again like something crossed her mind.
"And Ariana?"
I looked up.
This time her voice was a little lower. Not commanding. Just sure.
"Don't wait to be allowed to exist."
Then she walked out.
And the house felt even quieter after she was gone.