The massive gates opened slowly, allowing the car to enter the Rochefort mansion grounds. Arianne glanced out the window. Familiar driveway curving between old trees planted in two even rows. The ancestral estate stood ahead. Intact. Imposing.
She had lost count of how many times she had come here. Though she was now married to Franz, the estate had never felt like home. Gravel shifted beneath the tires before settling again.
She did not know when home had become the other house—the one with scattered toys and Aunt Estella's humming and Franz's coffee cup left in the sink. This place was still his parents' house. Still where Alex grew up. But Alex was gone, and the halls felt emptier for it. She wondered if Franz felt the same.
When the car came to a stop beneath the front portico, Arianne unfastened the twins from their car seats before opening the door.
Lily squirmed. "Hurry, Auntie."
"Almost done."
