📘 CHAPTER 43 — The Comfort of AssumptionPOV: MelissaBy the fourth day, the house stopped watching her.That was how Melissa knew she was doing something right.The first day, eyes followed her everywhere sharp, measuring, waiting for her to break. The second day, questions came disguised as concern. By the third, whispers filled the corridors whenever she passed.But by the fourth day?Nothing.Alice no longer asked where she was going. Castor no longer muttered comments under his breath when she walked past him in the hallway. Even the servants relaxed, their movements looser, their glances drifting past her instead of lingering.People only ignored you when they believed you no longer mattered.Melissa woke early that morning, long before the house stirred. The curtains fluttered slightly in the cool breeze, sunlight barely creeping through the windows. She sat on the edge of the bed, fully dressed, her phone resting silent in her palm.She hadn’t packed anything yet.Leaving, sh
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