Empire of Nothing

Zane's house wasn't fancy.

The kitchen light flickered when the toaster was on. The guest blanket smelled like fabric softener and popcorn. The walls were covered in stickers and band posters and memories that didn't try to impress anyone.

Nova liked it here.

No one walked on eggshells. No one stared like she didn't belong.

She wasn't invisible.

She wasn't too much.

She was just… Nova.

Jules showed up around noon, crashing through the door with Troy in tow and a bag of snacks in her arms.

"Is it true?" she demanded dramatically. "You full-on ran away from the Palace of Ice?"

"Palace of Ice?" Zane snorted.

Nova shrugged. "Something like that."

Jules flopped on the couch beside her. "I'm so proud. I mean, I'm concerned. But mostly proud."

Troy opened a soda. "You know your uncles probably gonna send a helicopter or something, right?"

Nova hesitated.

"He's not the problem," she muttered. "They are."

Zane looked at her from across the room. "You sure you don't want to tell him where you are?"

"No."

She said it firmly this time.

"I don't want him dragging me back to that house like I'm a lost puppy. If they want me gone so badly, fine. I'll stay gone."

The room went quiet for a second.

Then Jules grinned and tossed her a hairbrush. "Then let's brush that rat's nest and go out. You're not moping your rebellion away on a couch."

Nova smirked. "You're ridiculous."

"Correct. But fashionable."

Back at the mansion, tension was crawling down the hallways.

Leon hadn't said anything.

Not yet.

But the brothers were restless.

Max kept pacing. Ethan kept checking his phone. Ryder? He didn't speak. Just stayed in the gym longer than usual, punching too hard and too long.

It was Ethan who finally said it:

"She's not coming back tonight."

Max looked up. "You think she's with Zane?"

"Of course she is."

Ryder tossed his gloves onto the bench. "Good. Let her stay."

But his voice didn't match his words.

Because deep down, they all knew the same thing—

For the first time since she moved in…

Nova had stopped waiting to be chosen.

And the silence she left behind?

Was deafening.