Chapter 212

OLIVIA’S POV The air outside was cool that morning, brushed with the scent of pine and dew. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves, and the house behind me was alive with the sound of childish laughter and the clatter of Aria’s wooden tea set being laid out on the porch. But I could feel it—the shift. The kind of silence that always came before someone left. Derek stood at the edge of the garden, right where the stone path disappeared into the dense woods, the morning mist still lingering between the trees. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest, his shoulders drawn back like he was holding himself together with sheer will. He looked out into the trees like they were calling him, like some part of him was already deep within them—already halfway gone, waging a silent war I couldn't see but could certainly feel. I stepped toward him, my voice gentle, hesitant. “Leaving without saying goodbye?” He glanced down at me for a fleeting moment, then turned his gaze back toward the horizon. “