Gisela's POV:
Dead silence hung heavy in the bedroom. Outside the window, the only sound was the soft rustle of wind sweeping through tree leaves and branches.
I gazed out through the glass pane. A yellow leaf twirled and spun in the air a few times, rootless and adrift, before drifting down to land on the ground.
Autumn had arrived.
A wave of crushing, unprecedented helplessness washed over me. Just the slightest twitch of my lips drained every last bit of strength from my body.
"Don't you dare lay a finger on my family. Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it. All of it," I murmured.
He raised an eyebrow slightly. "Anastasia mentioned something to me before she left just now. You've always wanted a child. The two of you agreed ages ago that if you each had kids later on, you'd arran
