The next morning arrived shrouded in tension, a fragile calm hanging over the Brown mansion as if the entire world was holding its breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The distant hum of the city outside seemed muffled, like an echo that refused to reach the house's cold, sterile walls. Angela had woken early, her heart beating an anxious rhythm against her chest. She hadn't seen Edmund since their heated discussion in his study. The intensity of the kiss they'd shared still lingered on her lips, but the danger they faced loomed larger than any passion they could act on.
She knew today was the day everything could change. Edmund had told her to be strong, but the uncertainty gnawed at her like a living thing, growing with each passing hour. Angela moved through the motions of h
