Chapter 5 - The Truth Ethan Was Afraid To Say
Three days passed.
The mansion changed.
Security doubled.
Every employee was questioned.
But Ethan became quieter.
Audrey noticed.
Children didn't hide fear the same way adults did.
Adults became angry.
Children became silent.
One afternoon, she found him sitting beside the window.
Drawing.
Another wolf.
“You like wolves?”
Ethan nodded.
“My dad says wolves protect their family.”
Audrey sat beside him.
“Your dad sounds like he loves you.”
“He does.”
“Then why are you scared?”
Ethan stopped drawing.
After a long silence, he whispered:
“Because I heard them talking.”
“Who?”
“Celeste and Marcus.”
Audrey stayed quiet.
“What did they say?”
Ethan looked afraid.
“They said my dad would lose everything if I disappeared.”
Audrey’s heart sank.
“Ethan…”
“They said after that, someone else would control everything.”
That evening, Audrey told Dorian.
He listened without interrupting.
When she finished, he closed his eyes.
“My son heard all of that?”
“Yes.”
Dorian looked away.
“I should have protected him better.”
Audrey shook her head.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You protected him by building walls.”
A pause.
“But children don’t only need walls.”
Dorian said nothing.
“They need someone inside the walls.”
For once, Dorian had no answer.
Later that night, he found Ethan asleep.
A drawing was beside him.
Three wolves.
A large one.
A small one.
And a third standing between them.
Dorian recognized the meaning.
May you like
The third wolf was Audrey.
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