I called out to him again, my voice rising with the force of my frustration, my desperation. Each cry echoed through the empty mansion, bouncing off the high ceilings, reverberating down the long hallways, and growing louder with every breath I took. My voice carried the weight of my anger, slicing through the oppressive silence of the De Luca estate. I didn’t care how far it traveled or how loud it became—he needed to hear me. He had to hear me.
“Rafael!” I shouted again, the name tearing from my throat, laced with fury.
The silence around me only made the tension build, the waiting unbearable. Each second stretched into what felt like an eternity, feeding the fire inside me. My hands clenched into fists at my sides as I fought the urge to scream louder, harder.
Finally, after what fel
