**DAMIEN’S POV**
The car rolls to a stop at the edge of the old estate, and the silence that greets us feels unnatural. Heavy. Expectant. When I step out, the scent of damp earth rises into the air. The wind cuts sharply across the field, carrying the smell of pine and old stone. I stare at the building in front of me, weathered by time but still upright.
The memories hit instantly.
The long summers Adrian and I spent here. Running through the trees. Racing up the hill to the lake. Our mother standing on the balcony, calling us inside. The nights we whispered secrets under the old beams of the attic. The times Adrian laughed without cruelty. Without calculation. Before everything rotted.
This place shaped us.
And now he has dragged us back to it for the end.
My chest tightens. I do n
