The hours that followed moved quietly, but not without meaning. The building, though worn and forgotten by time, had become something temporary yet necessary. It held them together in one place, long enough for things to shift not just in their plans, but in the space between them. Elizabeth didn’t move much from where she sat, but she wasn’t withdrawn. Her eyes followed the movement in the room, occasionally pausing on Victor and Emma as they worked, or Daniel as he paced for no clear reason. But more often than not, her attention returned to Lewis. Not openly. Not in a way anyone else would easily notice. But it happened. And he knew it. Lewis, for his part, stayed consistent. He didn’t hover, didn’t interrupt, didn’t try to fill every silence with words. He had taken what she said seriously about the lines, about the space, about not rushing and now he was proving it the only way that mattered. By staying steady. At some point, Victor stood up from his station, stretching s
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