The room stayed quiet long after the door closed.
Not the kind of quiet that comes from peace.
The kind that settles when something irreversible has already happened, and everyone in the room understands it—even if no one says it aloud.
Vanessa didn't move at first.
Her eyes remained fixed on the door where the stranger had just disappeared, her thoughts moving faster than her body. Every word he had spoken replayed in her mind, not as dialogue, but as pieces of a larger structure she hadn't fully seen until now.
Marco finally broke the silence.
"Well," he said, letting out a slow breath, "I think it's safe to say that was not a normal house visit."
Vanessa didn't react.
Marco looked between her and Gale.
"Are we going to talk about what just happened, or are we all pretending that didn't just redefine our situation?"
Gale didn't answer immediately.
