I turned onto my side and cried until there were no tears left.
The next morning, Gabriel's absence was a wound that everyone pretended not to notice.
Nathan was louder than usual, his jokes sharper, his smile more brittle. Aleksander was quieter, retreating into his study, burying himself in work. The servants moved through the house like ghosts, their eyes averted, their voices hushed.
And I—I went through the motions. Ate breakfast. Drank coffee. Walked through the gardens and pretended I wasn't waiting for him to come back.
He didn't come back.
He was gone.
And I was still here, trapped in the golden cage, waiting for the next shoe to drop.
24
Nathan's Offer
He found me in the greenhouse.
I'd been sitting there for hours, staring at the orchids, trying to remember the sound of Gabriel's voice. The flowers were still blooming—they didn't care that he was gone. They kept reaching toward the light, indifferent to the grief that was slowly suffocating me.
I heard his footsteps before I saw him. Heavy. Deliberate. The footsteps of someone who knew exactly what he wanted and wasn't afraid to take it.
"Monika."
I didn't turn around. "Go away, Nathan."
"No."
He walked into the greenhouse, his shoes crunching on the gravel path. I watched him approach in my peripheral vision—the sharp lines of his suit, the way his hair caught the LED light, the predatory grace of his movements. He was beautiful, and I hated him for it.
"I heard about Gabriel," he said. "He left."
"I know."
"You're crying."
I touched my face. My cheeks were wet—I hadn't even noticed. The tears had been falling so long they'd become a part of me.
"I'm fine."
"You're not." He knelt in front of me, his hands resting on my knees. "You're not fine. You're broken. And you're sitting here alone, pretending you're not."
"Nathan..."
"He was the best of us." His voice was soft, almost gentle. "And you broke him."
I flinched. The words hit like a slap, sharp and unforgiving.
"I didn't mean to."
"No one ever does with you." He reached up and wiped a tear from my cheek. The gesture was surprisingly tender, and I felt something crack in my chest. "You don't plan it. You just... happen. And we all fall into you."
"That's not fair."
"Nothing about this is fair." He stood, offering me his hand. "Come with me."
"Where?"
