Omniscient POV
The night had teeth.
Above the coastal estate, clouds tore across a moonless sky, dragging shadows over the Costa manor. Inside, light flickered golden, trembling, caught between opulence and ruin. Everything was too quiet, like the silence that settled in churches before confession. But this house had never known sanctity. Only secrets. And tonight, they were rising to the surface.
Valentina stood at the center of the study, unmoving. The fire at her back hissed against damp logs, casting warped silhouettes across the room. A storm churned outside, echoing the one inside her chest. Adrian was somewhere in the house. She could feel his presence like gravity...heavy, pulling, constant.
But this moment wasn’t his. It belonged to her.
She drew in a breath, cold and iron-ri
