Chapter 51

It had been a week and five days since Grandpa Lucky’s dinner, a week and five days since Hades had last truly spoken to his wife.

A week and five days of calculated, chilling silence. He made sure Claudine felt it.

He slept in his work office now, a luxurious, self-contained space adjoining his large bedroom, but distinctly separate. No shared meals, no casual conversation, no lingering glances.

Nothing. Just the cold, deliberate absence of his voice.

He observed her, of course. He always did.

From his own point, she moved through the mansion like a ghost, a dejected shadow. He noticed her spending hours in the gym, the rhythmic noises of her training echoing faintly through the house.

And then, the smell of cooking would drift from the kitchen, richer and more complex than anything Dave, their in-house chef, usually jovial.

Claudine was cooking more.

He saw her in there, sometimes, through the kitchen archway, her back to him, focused on chopping or stirring. It seemed to bring her