Chapter 5 A Voice Between the Silence

The rain came softly that morning.

Not heavy, not loud. Just a gentle drizzle against the glass windows - enough to blur the sky and fill the world with a quiet hush.

Inside the playroom, Aria sat on the rug, building a puzzle with Isla. The little girl sat cross-legged beside her, focused and calm. Her bunny was tucked in her lap, as always.

Aria watched her out of the corner of her eye. Every day, the silence between them grew softer - less like a wall, more like a waiting space.

She didn't rush her. Didn't prod or beg for words.

Words, Aria knew, could be weapons. She had learned that the hard way.

---

Years ago...

She'd been twelve the last time she saw her father.

He'd come home angry. Again. A door had slammed. A plate had shattered. Her mother had cried quietly in the bathroom while Aria sat with her baby brother on the stairs, holding him close so he wouldn't hear.

Aria had learned young how to be invisible. How to soothe others before soothing herself. How to survive storms without letting them touch her skin.

That's why Isla's silence didn't scare her.

She recognized it.

Because once upon a time... it had been hers.

---

"Do you want the corner piece?" Aria asked gently, holding it up.

Isla didn't speak but she nodded.

And that alone made Aria's heart swell.

"You're good at this," she said softly, fitting a piece into place. "I bet if we did this every day, we'd finish puzzles twice as fast as anyone else."

Isla's hand paused. Then slowly, she slid the final piece into the sky.

The puzzle - a field of wildflowers beneath a soft blue sky - was complete.

"That's beautiful," Aria whispered.

Isla stared at it, and for just a second, her lips parted.

Like she might say something.

But then-

"Wow. Either you two are geniuses, or that puzzle was made for toddlers."

Aria turned, startled.

Liam.

He stood in the doorway with a tray of cocoa, that ever-present smile tugging at his lips.

Aria's gaze narrowed. "How do you keep getting into rooms without making a sound?"

"It's a Knight thing. We're trained from birth to be emotionally stunted and annoyingly stealthy."

Isla looked up at him, then quickly looked down.

But Aria noticed it - the tiniest curve at the corner of her mouth.

"She almost smiled," Liam whispered dramatically. "Did anyone else witness that?"

Aria gave him a look. "Be quiet. You'll scare her."

"I bring peace offerings," he said, holding up the tray. "Cocoa with little marshmallows."

Isla blinked. Her hand moved slightly toward Aria's sleeve.

Aria smiled and took the mug with two hands, offering it gently to Isla. "It's okay, sweetheart. He's harmless."

Isla reached out.

Took the cup.

Held it with both hands.

Aria watched, stunned, as the little girl brought it to her lips and sipped.

Then looked up.

And said, so quietly Aria almost missed it-

"Thank you."

The room froze.

Aria's breath hitched. Liam's jaw dropped slightly.

Isla blinked slowly, as if nothing had happened. As if those two words weren't her first in over a year.

Aria swallowed back the sudden well of tears. "You're welcome, Isla."

Liam whispered, "That just made my entire week."

Aria gently wrapped an arm around the girl's back, just a soft touch. Isla didn't pull away.

That afternoon, Aria was in the kitchen rinsing dishes when she felt eyes on her back.

She turned, and sure enough Damon stood there. No suit jacket this time. Just a white shirt, sleeves rolled, the top button undone.

He looked different like this.

Less unreachable.

"She spoke," he said.

Aria nodded. "Just two words. But they were hers."

His jaw moved. "I thought I'd missed it. That I'd never hear her voice again."

"She still has it," Aria said gently. "She just needed the right moment."

Damon studied her for a long time.

"I've seen therapists come and go. Speech experts. Specialists from across the country. None of them got a word from her."

Aria dried her hands on a towel. "Because they treated her like a case. Not a person."

He stepped closer. "And you... you're just a nanny."

"I'm not just anything, Mr. Knight," she replied calmly.

He paused. For a moment, his gaze dipped to her lips.

And then back up.

"No. You're not," he said quietly.

The silence that followed buzzed with something too dangerous to name.

But it shattered when Liam waltzed in holding his phone.

"Breaking news: Isla speaks, Damon is human, and Aria still hasn't poisoned us. Who's in the mood to celebrate?"

Aria let out a soft laugh, grateful for the interruption.

Damon's eyes lingered a moment longer. And then he turned and left the room.

But not before Liam gave her a look.

A knowing, amused, interested look.

As if he'd seen the shift in Damon... and didn't plan to stay out of the way.

---

That night, Aria tucked Isla into bed with the bunny in one hand and a lavender sachet under her pillow.

"Goodnight, sweetheart."

Isla looked at her.

Then - barely audible - she whispered, "Goodnight."

Aria closed the door slowly, pressing a hand to her chest as she stood in the hallway.

She wasn't falling for the child.

She was already in deep.

And what terrified her more...

Was that the father was beginning to unravel her, too.