Chapter 23 Everything Changed For Him

• The day was bright, with a gentle breeze carrying the scent of fresh flowers. I had been walking around the estate with Betty for the past hour, trying to regain my strength and adjust to life outside of the bed I'd been confined to for days. Betty kept the conversation light, her warmth a constant comfort as she told me stories about the estate's history and how life flowed here, so far from the rest of the world.
• "This place," she said, gesturing to the wide fields and the stone cottages dotting the landscape, "it's peaceful. Safe, even. We may be isolated, but no harm ever comes to us here. Lucian ensures that."
• I glanced at her, curiosity piqued. Betty had known Lucian longer than anyone here, and she spoke of him with a kind of reverence.