**Stefano’s POV**

The house was too quiet.

Usually, that kind of silence was a monster. It was the kind of quiet that reminded me of everything I had lost, a heavy pressure that made me want to break things just to hear a sound. But tonight, for the first time since Elena walked out of this front door, I didn't mind the stillness.

I leaned back in my leather armchair, my body sinking into the expensive leather. I watched the orange embers in the fireplace slowly turn to gray ash. My mind ...