Chapter 6
Maren did not flinch when Julian stepped out from behind the wardrobe into the cozy, secluded room. The space was furnished with remnants of old furniture from other parts of the estate, creating a haphazard sanctuary away from the polished perfection of the rest of the house. Leo looked over his shoulder, his small face brightening instantly upon seeing his father.
"Daddy!" Leo called out, starting to scramble up from the floor before Maren gently placed a restraining hand on his shoulder.
"Stay here for a moment, sweetheart," Maren said softly to her son, her voice remarkably calm considering the dramatic intrusion. She looked up at Julian, who stood frozen in the center of the room, his grey suit smelling of dust and tension. "You found the old passage. I suppose Maya finally decided to grow a conscience."
Julian dropped his arms to his sides, the fight completely gone from his posture. "Why are you hiding up here, Maren? Clara acted like you had vanished into thin air, and the house felt like a tomb."
"To you, this house has always been a tomb, Julian, because you only care about what you can extract from it," Maren replied, her tone devoid of anger, which made her words cut all the deeper. "Every time your business ventures go sideways, you bring the panic home. You treat our lives like collateral damage in your endless game of corporate survival."
"I do it for us," Julian protested weakly, though even to his own ears, the excuse sounded hollow and worn out. "I build our future."
"Our future is right here, Julian, and it is crumbling while you chase ghosts in the city," Maren said, standing up slowly and smoothing the fabric of her silk robe. She walked over to the small window that overlooked the overgrown back gardens, her slender frame silhouetted against the afternoon sun. "Clara understands this house. She knows that when the foundation rots, you either shore it up or you let it fall. You have spent years digging holes beneath us."
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Julian took a hesitant step toward her, wanting to reach out, to bridge the physical and emotional distance that had grown between them over the past year. "I can fix things, Maren. I closed the worst of the accounts yesterday. We can start over, away from here, away from Clara's influence."
Maren turned back to face him, a faint, sad smile touching the corners of her mouth. "You cannot run away from who you are, Julian. And you certainly cannot run away from the debts we owe to this family's history."
