The air in the study thickened until Ariana could hardly breathe.
Her pulse thundered as Alexander stepped closer, his coat still damp from the rain, his gaze sharp enough to cut through her lies.
He stopped just inches away.
"Who are you?" he asked quietly too quietly.
Her lips parted, but words refused to come.
"Don't lie to me again," he said, voice low and dangerous. "You've been different since the day we married. You flinch when I touch you. You forget names, routines, details she'd never miss. And now"
He nodded toward the open drawer.
"Now you've confirmed everything I already suspected."
Ariana swallowed hard. "Alexander, I can explain"
"Then explain why my wife's twin sister's passport is in my desk," he snapped. "Or did you think I wouldn't notice that the woman I married doesn't even smell like the same perfume?"
She flinched. Her façade was crumbling, her heartbeat roaring in her ears.
"I didn't come here to hurt you," she said softly. "I didn't want any of this."
"Then why did you do it?" he demanded. "For money? For her? For me?"
His last word broke barely and something raw flashed in his eyes before he masked it with fury.
Tears burned at the back of her eyes. "I did it to protect her."
He froze. "Protect her?"
Ariana drew a trembling breath. "Aria called me the night before the wedding. She said she was in danger. She begged me to take her place just for a few weeks until she fixed something. I thought it was temporary."
Alexander stared at her like he was seeing her for the first time.
Rain drummed softly against the windows.
"She said someone would die if I didn't," Ariana continued. "And now she's back in Milan and I think someone's trying to kill her."
Alexander's jaw clenched, every muscle in his face tightening.
"So you lied to me," he said finally, his voice cold again. "You forged her identity, married me under false pretenses, and now you expect me to believe you're the victim?"
"I didn't forge anything! I"
He slammed his hand against the desk, making her jump.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?"
Her voice shook. "I had no choice!"
"Everyone has a choice."
"No," she whispered, meeting his gaze with tear-glazed eyes. "Not when it's your sister's life on the line."
Silence.
The kind that hums between two people when something deep something dangerous starts to shift.
Alexander's eyes softened for just a second. He looked at her really looked and the anger gave way to something else.
Pain. Confusion. Curiosity.
"You're nothing like her," he said quietly. "Aria never would've risked herself for anyone."
"I'm not her," Ariana said, tears slipping free. "I never was."
He exhaled slowly, turning away, running a hand through his hair.
"This marriage," he muttered, "is built on lies. And now you've made me part of them."
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "But I swear, I didn't mean for this to go so far. I just wanted to survive. And now I need your help to find her before whoever's after her comes for me too."
Alexander turned back to her, his gray eyes unreadable.
After a long silence, he said, "You're staying here. Under my protection. Until I find the real Aria."
Ariana blinked. "You're helping me?"
His expression hardened again. "Don't mistake this for forgiveness, Mrs. Volkov. You lied to me and I don't forgive easily."
He brushed past her toward the door, his voice low.
"But if someone wants you dead they'll have to go through me first."
The door shut, leaving Ariana trembling in the golden lamplight.
For the first time, she realized beneath his fury and control, Alexander Volkov was protecting her.
And that terrified her even more than his anger.