The penthouse felt cavernous without Leo’s laughter filling the halls. Sophie Laurent sat on the velvet sofa, staring at the silence. William was still at the office, obsessing over the lighting schematics for the reception. He had texted her three times in the last hour, but only to ask about color palettes, not about how she was feeling after handing her stepson over to a woman who despised her.
She picked up her phone to call him, to tell him how much she missed Leo, but she stopped. William would just tell her it was “part of the plan” or that she was worrying too much. He was manic, unreachable in his tower of grief and wedding planning.
Her thumb hovered over the contacts list, scrolling past William’s name. She tapped *Dr. Hale*.
He answered on the first ring. “Sophie? Is everything okay?”
“I just…” Sophie’s voice cracked. “The apartment is so quiet. Beatrice took Leo.”
“I’m sorry,” Lucas said, his voice warm and steady–a stark contrast to the frantic energy of the Croft world. “Do you want me to talk about the wedding? Or do you want me to tell you about the ridiculous tie a patient wore today?”
“The tie,” Sophie whispered, curling her legs under her. “Please, tell me about the tie.”
For twenty minutes, she didn’t feel like a spy or a prop in a billionaire’s redemption arc. She just felt heard.