Chapter 58 058

Chapter 58 058

Rayna
By the time the fifteenth night came, I was done pretending, and I meant it this time. I tried to tell myself not to dwell too much on it, but I could tell there was a change in me this time. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I'd almost spilled my emotional guts to Zero last night. I wasn't sure, but whatever it was, I just knew I had decided to tackle this head on.

All day, Zero had lived in my head like an unanswered question that refused to quiet. I tried, hell,I tried, but no matter what I did, it felt like I was pouring water into a basket with holes.

No matter what I did, I walked the halls, ate in silence, and even stared out windows that led nowhere. I kept seeing his hands crushing into his knees, the way his eyes had hardened when the locket hit the table.

I kept seeing how close I’d come to breaking. It was probably normal for others but for me, I just might have ruined my reputation in front of Zero. Yes, it was that bad.

The humiliation of it burned worse in daylight. I couldn’t believe I’d almost cried in front of him. I'd almost begged, almost lost myself to the hope that he would finally choose me over his silence, almost done something I wouldn't have been able to recover from.

While the thought of Zero finally speaking was enticing, deep down, I knew that would never happen unless I forced it.

So when night fell, I didn’t soften myself. I didn’t rehearse taunts or wrap my fear in sarcasm like I always used to. I had a different goal this time around, so it was only fair that I changed my patterns.

In the blink of an eye, I dressed with sharp movements, my jaw set,with my heart pounding with something that felt dangerously close to resolve.

Tonight, I was getting answers, whether he liked it or not, and I'd be damned if I left his room without getting anything.

With each step I took closer to his room, I felt that the corridor felt longer than usual. The air was heavier here, like the House itself knew I was done playing my role. Like she knew I was up to no food tonight , and if things went well or my way, then best believe this entire ruse would be coming to an end pretty soon. I tried to push her away, but the Mistress’s presence hovered at the edges of my awareness, watching, and waiting, but she said nothing.

For some strange reason, that silence only hardened my resolve. Unlike the previous nights, I didn’t knock.I burst into the room.

The door slammed open hard enough to echo, and Zero was already there, of course he was, seated in his usual position like a statue that had never learned how to move. His head lifted slightly at the sound, eyes cutting toward me for half a second before dropping again.

Not tonight.

I crossed the room in quick, angry strides, stopping directly in front of him. I didn’t sit,I didn’t pace, because for the first time since I walked in here, I didn't need all those other things. I needed him to talk to me, so I stood over him, daring him to look up.

“Enough,” I said, my voice tight and unyielding. “I’m done with this.”

He didn’t respond, he never did and I wish I could say I was surprised.

“No warnings. No warm up.” I laughed sharply. “I’m not here to entertain you tonight.”

Still nothing.

“You know about my sister,” I said, each word deliberate. “You knew before I ever put that locket in front of you.”

His jaw flexed.

There it was, so I leaned in, hands braced on the back of the chair opposite him.

“Why?” I demanded. “Why didn't you say anything ? Why was it in an archive like she was a file instead of a person?”

As usual, all I got was silence, but this time, it only fueled my desire to know more about what he knew. The room felt smaller with every breath I took, but I didn't let that stop me.

“Did you meet her?” I pressed. “Did you see her before she died? Or after?”

My voice wavered for half a second, but I forced it steady again. I wouldn’t give him that power.

“Was she like me?” I asked harshly. “Did she sit where I’m sitting? Did she talk to you while you stared straight through her like she didn’t matter?”

Nothing. I didn't get a response from him . The silence didn’t just answer me, it wrapped around my throat. I straightened abruptly, frustration snapping hot and fast.

“Say something,” I snapped. “You don’t get to sit there and hold all of this while I tear myself open.”

He stared at the floor now, his shoulders rigid, with his hands planted on his knees again. He was showing that same restraint, that same self-inflicted prison that was driving me madder than I was willing to admit.

“Why are you so hell bent on being quiet?” I demanded. “Is this penance? Control? Or are you just a coward who’d rather choke on his secrets than face what you’ve done?”

That did it.

His fingers dug into his knees so hard I heard the faint creak of leather beneath the strain. His breathing changed into slower, deeper this time, and almost measured like he was counting something only he could see.

But he still didn’t speak.

The silence swelled, thick and suffocating, crawling into my lungs until it hurt to inhale. It pressed against my ears, my chest, my thoughts, until I felt like I was drowning in it.

“God,” I whispered hoarsely. “This silence….”

It was everywhere, between us, inside me, and it was tearing at me from everywhere possible.

I stepped back, suddenly unsteady, my earlier fury crashing into something hollow and exhausted.

“You’re killing me with it,” I said quietly. “Do you know that?”

He didn’t move. He didn’t look up, nor did he deny it, and somehow, that was worse than any answer he could have given.

The room stayed frozen, the air unmoving, as if the House itself was holding us there, me demanding, and him withholding, locked in a battle neither of us was willing to lose.

Silence didn’t break. It closed in, and I realized with a sick twist in my chest that whatever truth I was chasing, it lived inside that silence, and it was prepared to suffocate me before it ever set me free.