I couldn't sleep after returning from the Calloway estate, my mind replaying Alexander's confession and Victoria's cold dismissal on an endless loop. Around 2 AM, I gave up on rest and wandered down to the academy gardens, seeking the kind of quiet solitude that seemed impossible to find anywhere else.
The gardens were beautiful at night—moonlight casting silver shadows across carefully manicured hedges, the fountain at the center creating a gentle soundtrack of running water. I sat on a stone bench near the fountain, pulling my jacket tighter against the October chill.
"Couldn't sleep either?"
Alexander's voice came from behind me, quiet and unsurprising. Part of me had been expecting him to follow, to finish the conversation his mother had interrupted so dramatically.
"Too much on my
