The night was thick with silence, broken only by the faint creak of Daniel's boots against the wooden floor. Linda's breathing was steady, her form curled under the blankets, unaware that her husband was no longer by her side. He slipped into the darkness like a man born to it, shutting the door without a whisper.
Daniel's carriage waited at the edge of the village, its lanterns dimmed. The men inside stood when he appeared, bowing their heads with respect and fear. In the daylight he was a merchant, the respectable face of trade and numbers. But under the veil of night, he was something else entirely — a collector of debts, a judge, and an executioner when necessary.
The warehouse smelled of iron, smoke, and men's sweat. Daniel removed his coat with slow precision, rolling his sleeves up past his forearms. The scars crisscrossing his skin were the stories no one dared ask about.
"Where is he?" Daniel's voice cut through the murmurs.
A trembling figure was dragged forward, blood already staining his shirt. A merchant who thought he could cheat, pocketing profits meant for Daniel's network.
"You thought you could steal from me," Daniel murmured, crouching low so his cold green eyes met the man's. "Daytime Daniel shakes hands. Nighttime Daniel cuts them off."
The crack of bone echoed in the warehouse as the punishment was carried out. His men didn't flinch — they'd seen worse. Daniel wiped his hands with a cloth, discarding it like trash, his expression unreadable.
( but little did he knows .... there wasn't one secret hiding in the mansion , it was TWO )
Linda's POV :
The sound of the door closing was soft, but Linda's eyes snapped open the instant it clicked shut.
She had been waiting.
Linda pushed herself upright, her heart racing. She had long suspected that her husband's late-night disappearances weren't innocent strolls. But while Daniel vanished into the shadows with the scent of iron and secrets, Linda had her own reason for the night.
The library.
Books were forbidden to women in the village, but knowledge was a fire in her veins that rules could never extinguish. Wrapped in a shawl, she slipped out through the back door, hugging the darkness as if it were an old friend.
Across town, Linda's trembling fingers traced the spines of books by candlelight. She carefully slid a volume into her shawl, whispering a silent promise to return it. To her, this was rebellion. To him, rebellion was treachery punished in blood.
Neither knew that they weren't alone in their secrets.
When dawn broke, Daniel crept back to the marital bed, his hands scrubbed clean but the metallic scent of violence still faint in the air. Minutes later, Linda slipped under the blankets, clutching the memory of words she wasn't supposed to know.
Two lives under one roof, both forged in the shadows.
Two secrets waiting to collide.
PLEASE SUPPORT ,
LOVE FROM,
♡LINDA AND DANIEL♡