Ambessa’s POV The storm outside my mansion mirrored the one inside my chest. Thunder rumbled in the distance, low and ominous, as rain streaked down the towering glass windows of my sitting room. I stood near the fireplace, watching the flames flicker, a glass of bourbon clutched tightly in my hand. The amber liquid barely trembled, but my fingers ached from how hard I was holding it. Christopher. My son. My heir. My legacy. And yet, he had chosen a path I could not accept. A path that defied everything I had built, everything I had sacrificed to make him into the man he was supposed to be. He had chosen her. Tanya Brixton. The name alone made my jaw clench. I took a slow sip of my drink, savoring the burn, willing it to silence the whirlwind of emotions inside me. But it did

