Chapter 40: The Ultimatum
****Isabelle's POV****
The rain had returned again.
A soft, rhythmic drizzle tapped against the stained-glass windows of the Moretti estate, casting shadows that danced like ghosts across the marbled floor. I stood in the war room, its once-proud walls now feeling like a cage closing in on me. My fingers hovered over the back of an ornate chair carved with the Moretti crest, the cold of the steel blade hidden in my boot biting into my skin as if to remind me: I was never safe here.
Victor watched me from across the room, lounging like a king on his throne of false power. He had summoned me this morning with an urgency I didn't trust. There were no threats on paper, no hired men breathing down my neck. That terrified me more than any weapon ever could.
He pour
