“Come inside,” the woman said.
She turned quickly and pulled her children closer to her sides, instinctively shielding them from whatever this situation had become.
It was the same woman she had seen before, standing still with composed posture, but something in her expression had changed completely.
The cold superiority and quiet contempt were gone, replaced by something heavier and more grounded that felt almost human.
Her children clung tightly to her clothes, their small hands trembling as they pressed closer.
“Mom, I feel scared right now,” her son whispered, his voice barely holding together.
“I know, I’m right here with you, I won’t let anything happen,” she replied, though her own hands were shaking.
She stepped inside slowly, each footstep echoing loudly through the empty house as if the walls themselves were listening.
The silence wrapped around them in a way that made every breath feel louder than it should have been.
“Where is he right now?” she asked, her voice dry and strained from everything she had been holding back.
There was a brief pause before the woman answered.
