The atmosphere in the luxurious living room had morphed from a tense stage to a cosy, emotional trap.
Adrienne's mind was racing, her carefully constructed defences dissolving under the unexpected warmth of Mrs. Devereux's approval and the glaring silence of the unscripted question.
"Tell me, Adrienne, how did you two meet for the first time?"
Adrienne's head snapped towards Alexander, her eyes silently screaming the words: HELP ME, YOU IDIOT!
Alexander, however, was still momentarily paralysed, not by the question, but by the echo of Adrian's secret look in Adrienne's face. The fleeting softness in her eyes—the genuine wish behind her "till death do us part"—had rattled his detached armour.
He caught the desperate plea in her green eyes and the sudden sheen of panic on her forehead. He knew this was the critical moment.
