Chapter 21 In The Lion's Den

• The mansion was silent the next morning, suffocatingly so. No footsteps echoed across the marble floors. No birdsong dared to chirp near the vast, manicured gardens. Even the staff, usually discreet but present, seemed to vanish into thin air as Ivy made her way down the grand staircase with heavy, careful steps. The events of the night before clung to her like a second skin—hot, humiliating, and far too raw.
• She hadn’t slept.
• Not really.