The hours after their fight dragged endlessly, silence pressed down on the mansion like a stormcloud ready to split. Aria sat curled on the edge of the bed, her thoughts replaying Luca's words until they burned into her chest. He had admitted it. Every suspicion, every nagging doubt, confirmed. Their marriage wasn't born of choice or chance. It was orchestrated. Calculated. A leash wrapped around her throat.
No matter how tender his touch had been the night before, no matter how convincing the softness in his eyes, beneath it all lays betrayal.
And she couldn't breathe inside these walls anymore.
