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Chapter 1 Calm Before the Storm
The silence in the bedroom was driving Silas insane.
He paced back and forth, his phone clenched in one hand, his eyes fixed on Allison’s name glowing on the screen. He had called her so many times that he had lost count, yet she still refused to answer. Every unanswered call tightened the knot in his chest, feeding the anger that had been simmering inside him for hours.
Outside, snow fell heavily over Manhattan, blanketing the streets in white. The power had gone out, leaving the house shrouded in darkness. There was barely enough light to make out the furniture, and the silence was so complete that he could hear the sharp sound of his own breathing.
At nineteen, Silas Black had never felt so helpless in his life.
He strode toward the bedroom door and grabbed the handle, trying to yank it open, but it wouldn't budge.
He slammed his fist against the door. "Open the goddamn door!"
No one answered.
He pounded on it again, harder this time, the sound echoing through the dark hallway beyond. "I said, open the door!"
Silence.
His jaw clenched as he pressed his ear against the wood, straining to hear even the faintest movement outside. Nothing. Not a single footstep, not a voice, not even the sound of someone approaching.
But the house remained eerily silent.
Silas stepped back, his chest heaving as he stared at the locked door.
He turned away from the door and dragged a hand through his hair, his gaze darting toward his phone as he checked the screen again.
He had tried calling Allison repeatedly and sent her countless messages, but she hadn't responded to a single one.
Three days ago, he had asked her to be his girlfriend. She had told him she would think about it, and he had left her alone, giving her time to make up her mind. But ever since that night, she had stopped calling him and responding to his messages.
His chest tightened as he stared at his phone, his mind racing through every possible explanation for her silence.
Just then, his phone beeped.
Silas froze.
For one brief, foolish second, hope surged through him. Then he saw Allison’s name on the screen, and his heart lurched so violently that he nearly dropped the phone.
He opened the message at once.
‘I'm leaving Manhattan. I need you to forget that I exist. Please stop calling me.’
He stared at the words, reading them again and again as though they might rearrange themselves into something that made sense.
Leaving Manhattan?
Forget that she existed?
What the hell was she talking about?
His jaw tightened. He immediately typed a reply, his thumbs moving so quickly that he barely registered the words he was sending. He immediately called her again.
The call didn't go through.
He tried once more.
Nothing.
