Chapter 47 Emotional Walls

• The evening had passed quietly, too quietly for Celia’s liking. It was as if the air between her and Alexander had thickened with the unspoken words they both kept to themselves. The house was unusually still, and every sound seemed to echo louder than it should, from the ticking of the clock on the mantel to the faint rustling of leaves outside the window. Celia sat on the couch, her legs curled beneath her, lost in thought.
• Alexander, across from her in an armchair, seemed lost in his own world, staring out of the window as if he could will the night into something more peaceful. The space between them felt like a chasm—silent, cold, and filled with things neither of them had yet said. The weight of everything they had been through, all the hidden moments, the fleeting touches, and the forbidden nature of their relationship hung heavily between them.
• She couldn’t take it anymore. The silence, the distance. She needed something to break the tension. Celia stood, her fingers lightly brushing the edge of the coffee table as she moved toward him.