Chapter 28: The Shadow of Expectations
Adrian's POV
Long shadows were formed across the dark mahogany walls of the study by the crackling fire. Holding Elena's ultrasound picture in his palm, Adrian sat in his office. For the first time in years, memories he had buried deep started to clamber back to the surface as the storm outside matched the maelstrom in his emotions.
He could hear his father's voice as if the two of them were in the same room. chilly. measured. contemptuous.
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"Once more."
Ten-year-old Adrian was standing in the vast ballroom that had been converted into a training room at the Blackwood estate, wiping perspiration from his forehead. It was tiredness, not terror, that made his hands shake. His father, a towering, commanding man in a well-tailored suit, loomed ac
