Challenge 

After that strange, somewhat tender moment Cass had shared with Uriel on the patio, she didn't see him for days. 

It was as if he'd slipped away to some unreachable corner of the mansion, hiding behind his calls and closed doors. He'd always been distant, but now it felt intentional—like he was putting an entire ocean between them, erasing that brief glimpse of his vulnerability.

It left her feeling strangely unsettled. Restless.

She'd returned to her bored, monotonous life of joblessness. Calling a cleaning company to clean her house, paying a delivery driver to deliver groceries and cat food. She'd tipped them extra to discreetly check on her father and cat and, to her relief, they both reported that he and Peppercorn were alive and appeared to be healthy. She ate meals alone, wandered around the mansion and ditched 'The Ethereal Concord' for 'Twilight', reading through every last one of Elara's annotations even though her heart pinched whenever she did.