KYL's POV

The morning air was unusually quiet. i didn't hear the rustle of guards' boots along the marble corridor, i did not hear the metallic clicks from the heavy locks and voices from the intercom. Just silence, sharp, eerie, almost holy in its stillness. I stood outside my bedroom, barefooted and shirtless staring at the wide hallway flooded with sunlight. The villa had never looked so open. So...unclaimed.

My fingers trembled as I slid them along the banister, heading downstairs. ...