Chapter 10 - The Silent House
Three days. Seventy-two hours of absolute, deafening silence. The Ferraro estate felt less like a home now and more like a mausoleum. Elena had taken the twins to the west wing, attempting to establish a normal nursery routine, but without Sera’s rhythmic entrainment and calm, grounding presence, the infants sensed the underlying panic and tension in their mother's traumatized nervous system. They cried for fourteen hours straight on the second day.
Dante didn't intervene. He sat in his study, staring at the blank monitor screen where the security feed of Sera’s departure still echoed in his mind. He hadn't touched his coffee in hours. The massive syndicate empire he had bled to secure felt utterly hollow, a crown of thorns resting on a desolate throne.
Elena knocked once on the study door before pushing it open, looking exhausted, defeated, and broken beyond repair. She walked in and set a signed set of legal separation papers on his desk.
I can't do this, Dante, she said, her voice hollow and shaking. Every time I look at them, I see the night Salvatore took everything from us. And every time I look at you, I see a man who loves someone else.
Dante looked up slowly, his expression cold yet laced with profound pity. I'm sorry, Elena. I tried. I wanted the past back just as much as you did. But the person I was four months ago died the day I thought I lost you both. And the person I am now... belongs somewhere else.
May you like
She gave a bitter, tragic smile, nodding slowly. The waitress. She’s the only one who ever looked at you and didn't see a monster, isn't she? Go get her, Dante. Before you turn into stone completely.
He didn't wait. He stood up, grabbed his keys, and walked out of the study without looking back.
