Chapter 52 – Matteo’s Lover
***Isabelle’s POV***
The autumn wind tugged at the lace curtains of Evermere Hall’s west parlor, scattering the scent of rain and old roses through the air. Isabelle stood by the window, watching the garden below. The hedges had grown wild since Matteo’s death, the roses untrimmed and heavy with petals, as if mourning him with their decay.
She sipped from a porcelain cup of lukewarm tea, but the taste had long since dulled. Everything had dulled—flavor, color, time. Since Dante’s resurrection, the world had shifted off its axis, yet still spun forward with unrelenting momentum.
Then came the knock.
Three slow, deliberate taps on the front door.
Her heart gave a strange flutter—neither dread nor hope, but something curious in between.
“Ms. Raze,” Marta, th
