This felt like displacement.
Not union.
The car moved again.
The drive was long enough that silence stopped feeling like absence and started feeling like atmosphere.
The hum of tires against pavement became the only consistent thing in my world, steady enough that I began to measure time by it instead of thought.
Rafael didn’t speak.
I didn’t either.
My sadness settled deeper with every passing minute—not dramatic, not tearful, just heavy.
Like something pressing gently but constantly against my chest, refusing to move no matter how I shifted.
Eventually, the car slowed.
Then stopped.
Even before I opened the door, I could tell the space was different.
When I stepped out, the scent hit me fully—jasmine first, followed by something more structured beneath it. Expensive wood. Leather warmed by use. Air conditioning that carried a faint metallic coolness only wealth seemed able to maintain without effort.
It wasn’t just a house.
It was a statement.
Rafael’s hand found my waist, and I flinched so sharply I nearly lost my balance.
His grip tightened immediately—not harsh, but firm enough to steady me—keeping me upright before I could fall.
Then, without a word, he guided me forward.
It was not an intimate gesture. That much was clear. He wasn’t pulling me close for affection; he was leading me through unfamiliar ground, making sure I didn’t misstep in a place I couldn’t see.
And yet his palm stayed there.
Warm through the silk.
Steady in a way that made my body react before my thoughts could intervene.
For half a second, I hated that reaction more than anything else.
I forced myself to stiffen, to reclaim control of myself, even as the awareness of him lingered beneath my skin like a betrayal I couldn’t quite undo.
He was everything I should have resented in that moment—the cruelty of the vows he had just made me speak, the coldness of what he had demanded from me at the grave.
And yet his touch unsettled that certainty.
Not because it was kind.
Because it was steady.
And I hated how much my body responded to that difference.
My heels clicked against smooth flooring.
