Zane sat alone in his dimly lit study, his mind spiraling with frustration. An entire week had passed, and there had been no sign of Melissa, no desperate mother searching for her missing daughter. The silence gnawed at him, unsettling him in ways he couldn’t quite understand. Something was off; this wasn’t normal. Could it all be a ploy? A scheme devised by both mother and daughter? Maybe he had misjudged Aria’s innocence. She had been so docile, so weak… but what if she was just as cunning as her mother?
His anger flared as the thought settled in his mind. He had been too lenient, too distracted by her beauty and fragility. It was time to remind her who held the power, to put her back in her place.
Without a second thought, Zane shot up from his chair and stormed toward Aria’s room. Th
