Santiago did not answer immediately. Instead, he took a deliberate step back, creating space between them, not as retreat, but as intention, as though he were carefully shifting the balance back into something more structured and controlled.
"You can leave the bedroom," he said at last.
The statement was simple, yet it cut cleanly through the heavy air in the room.
Daniella's eyes flickered with surprise before she could mask it. For a brief second she thought she had misheard him.
He continued before she could respond.
"You won't be alone," he added, his tone steady and unyielding. "The guards will be with you at all times. Wherever you go within the estate, they go."
The brief spark of lightness in her expression dimmed, but it did not disappear entirely.
