C39 The Invisible Hand

The day passed in a haze. Rachel moved through the estate like a sleepwalker—answering Elena’s sharp questions with vague replies, offering Ethan polite smiles that never reached her eyes.

By late afternoon, she fled to the library, seeking the one place where she could pretend to be alone. The high shelves, the scent of dust and leather, the soft hush of carpet underfoot—it was a sanctuary