The silence was different now. Not cold, not cruel — just absent. Hayden didn't yell. He didn't touch her. He barely looked at her. He just... wasn't there. Not really.

Now, he leaves early in the morning — sometimes before the sun even rose — and came back late, when the moon was already halfway across the sky. He stays in that guest room. If he saw her in the hallway, his eyes would flicker toward her, but he said nothing. No cruel words. No rough grip around her waist. No claiming hands dragging her into his world like before. Just nothing. It was worse. So much worse.