***Raizel***
Now, sitting in my office with the afternoon sun slanting through the windows, sunlight stretched across my office chamber, turning the stone tiles a soft gold. The warmth should have been comforting, but it only reminded me how long I had been sitting here doing nothing.
The ledgers were still open on the desk, papers scattered across the surface, but I hadn't written a single word all morning. I just kept staring at the same column of numbers until they blurred together.
I couldn't escape the truth any longer. My attempt to protect Cadiz by keeping him at a distance was hurting him far more than the danger I was trying to shield him from.
He was fading in front of me. Every day, he seemed to grow quieter, smaller, less alive. I had convinced myself that my silence and restraint were necessary. But now it was clear that what I had called protection was only another kind of cruelty.
