The door slammed shut behind them with a deafening bang, like the final stroke of a gavel sentencing her to a fate she hadn’t agreed to—a sound that echoed off the stone walls with a violence that made Belle flinch.
It was not just a door closing.
It was a cell locking.
And Ashton said nothing.
Not a single word.
His presence was thunderous in its silence. He strode forward with slow, deliberate steps, each one a threat cloaked in elegance, his boots striking the polished black marble like the beat of a funeral drum—deep, heavy, and inescapable. The room around them was bathed in shadow, the only light coming from a single wall sconce that flickered with a pale, golden glow. It cast trembling shadows across the high, cold walls—walls that seemed to lean inward, trapping the heat of he
