Chapter 5 of SignedInSilence

Wren's Pov

The door to my temporary apartment clicked shut behind me, and I leaned against it, breathing hard.

I'd just spent three hours at my old apartment. Packing the rest of my belongings while Vivienne watched from the couch, scrolling through her phone like I was invisible. Three hours of pretending I didn't see the smug smile playing at the corners of her mouth. Three hours of swallowing the words that burned in my throat.

I should have left after the first hour.

But I couldn't. Because leaving meant letting them win.

****

I'd gone back for the box of my mother's things I'd hidden in the back of the closet. The only thing that mattered. The only thing I couldn't replace.

Vivienne had been there when I arrived.

"Well, well." She didn't look up from her phone. "Look who finally crawled back."

I didn't answer. Just walked past her to the bedroom.

"Raphael's not here, if that's what you're wondering." Her voice followed me. "He's at work. You know, doing actual adult things."

I kept walking.

"He said to tell you — if you came back — that you should take whatever you want. He doesn't care." She laughed. "He said he'll just replace it with better things anyway."

My hands shook as I opened the closet.

"Did you know he's already started moving my things in?" Her voice was closer now. I heard her footsteps in the hallway. "Just a few drawers for now. Making space. While we figure out our next steps."

Making space.

Like I'd never been there.

I found the box and pulled it out.

I held it against my chest and turned to face Vivienne.

She was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, looking me up and down like I was something she'd scraped off her shoe.

"You look terrible," she said. "The breakup really did a number on you, huh?"

I said nothing.

"You know, I never understood why he stayed with you for so long." She tilted her head. "You're so... boring. And oh, your proposal, I asked him to do that."

She smirked at me.

I wish I could wipe that smirk off.

"But me?" She smiled. "I'm exciting. I'm unpredictable. I gave him something you couldn't."

I clutched the box tighter. "And what was that?"

"Permission to be himself." She pushed off the doorframe and walked closer. "You wanted him to be someone he wasn't. Someone good. Someone loyal. But he was never that person, Wren. You just refused to see it."

She was inches from me now. I could smell her perfume. And it disgusted me.

"He wasn't cheating on you with me," she said quietly. "He was cheating on you with the idea of someone who actually saw him. Who accepted him. Who didn't try to change him."

My throat was tight. "You're my sister."

"Half-sister." She smiled. "And even then, I was never really your sister, was I? You just pretended. Because you were lonely. Because you needed someone to love."

I flinched.

"And now you have no one," she continued. "No Raphael. No sister. No home. No future." She laughed softly. "What are you going to do, Wren? Go back to that cold office and pretend you're fine?"

I didn't answer.

"I thought so." She stepped back. "You should go. You're not welcome here anymore."

I walked past her without looking back.

Her voice followed me all the way to the door.

"Oh, and Wren? If you ever try to contact us again — I'll make sure Raphael ruins you completely. He knows people. Powerful people. People who can make your life very, very difficult."

I stopped at the door.

"Don't threaten me," I firmly retaliated.

"It's not a threat." Her voice was sweet. "It's a promise."

I walked out.

I climbed into the back of the SUV and sat there, clutching my mother's box, my hands shaking so badly I could barely breathe.

"Miss?" The driver glanced in the rearview mirror. "Are you alright?"

"No," I said. "Just drive."

He didn't ask questions.

I didn't go back to the apartment Leander had given me.

I couldn't. The silence would have swallowed me whole.

Instead, I went to the office.

It was late. Almost 9 PM. The building was mostly empty. I walked through the lobby, past the security guard, and took the elevator to the fourth floor.

The lights were dim. The cubicles were empty.

But Leander's office was lit.

I walked toward the door without thinking. I wasn't sure what I was going to say. I wasn't sure what I wanted.

I just knew I couldn't be alone.

He was at his desk. Sleeves rolled. Tie loosened. He looked up when I walked in, and for a moment, something flickered in his eyes.

Then it was gone.

"You're back"

I didn't respond. Just stood there, clutching the box, shaking.

He studied me for a long moment. His eyes traveled over my face . The way I was barely holding myself together.

"Another ?" he predicted.

I laughed, and it came out wrong. Bitter. Hollow. "My sister... she said I was boring. That Raphael never really loved me. That she gave him something I couldn't." I swallowed hard.

Leander remained expressionless. But his fingers tightened on the edge of his desk.

"She threatened me," I continued. "Said if I ever contacted them again, she'd make sure Raphael ruined me completely. That he knows people. Powerful people."

"Does he?"

"I don't know." I shook my head. "I don't know anything anymore."

I sat down in the chair across from his desk. Dropped the box on my lap. Stared at the floor.

"I'm so tired," I whispered. "I'm so tired of fighting. Of pretending. Of trying to hold myself together while everyone around me is trying to tear me apart."

Leander was quiet for a long moment.

Then he reached into his desk and pulled out a folder. Thick. Unmarked. Bound with a black ribbon.

He slid it across the desk.

I stared at it. "What is this?"

"A way out."

I looked up at him. "What?"

"Read it."

I opened the folder with shaking hands.

****

LEGAL MARRIAGE CONTRACT

My heart stopped.

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