Chapter 318

XENOIS

I couldn't breathe.

Standing in the foyer of my parents' estate, surrounded by the deafening silence of an abandoned home, I felt like someone had reached into my chest and squeezed my heart until it stopped beating.

They'd left. My parents had actually left.

Not temporarily. Not on vacation. They'd dismissed staff who'd been with our family for decades, locked up the house, and disappeared without a single word to their son or their grandson.

Without warning. Without explanation. Without even the courtesy of a goodbye.

"Xenois?" Lumina's voice cut through the roaring in my ears. "Are you okay?"

Was I okay? Was I *okay*?

My parents—the...