Clara
Two weeks after the memo landed on Sebastian's desk, I stopped pretending I didn't understand what was happening around me.
It started with small things. Sebastian canceling dinners we'd had planned for months, staff whispering in the halls in a way they hadn't before, the particular tightness around his eyes that had become permanent rather than occasional. I found him one evening in his study long after midnight, still in his work clothes, a bottle of scotch open beside him though the glass sat mostly untouched.
"You should be asleep," I said, settling into the chair across from his desk.
"I've forgotten how to do that lately." He gave a tired half smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Sit. I think it's time I stopped protecting you from this."
He spent the next hour walking me t
