Chapter 682: The Weight of What Was Given
The house was quiet.
There was a faint chill in the air where warmth should have been. The fire in the hearth had burned down completely, leaving only dull embers.
Mary sat with wide eyes.
Caspian looked no better, his usual composure shaken in a way he did not bother hiding.
Madam Tyler sat still, her expression unreadable—neither anger nor acceptance, but something suspended between thought and memory.
Eldric was the first to break the silence.
His hand drifted to the green bead hanging from his neck while his other adjusted his glasses.
"How did you survive?" he asked.
Sophia blinked.
"What?" she asked quietly.
Eldric did not look away.
"How did you survive?" he repeated. "I am certain everything you have said is true. And I am certain what you experienced was abuse beyond anything most of us could imagine. But you were only a child when it began. So how did you survive it?"
The question settled heavily in the room.
