The air inside the hidden room suddenly felt too heavy to breathe.
Clara stood frozen near the old portrait while Alexander remained at the doorway, his sharp gray eyes locked onto her with dangerous intensity. Rain echoed faintly outside the mansion windows, but inside the room, the silence between them felt louder than thunder.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Alexander shut the door behind him.bThe sound made Clara’s heartbeat jump,“you shouldn’t have come in here.”
His voice was low,controlled but beneath that control, Clara could hear something else now. Anger.
“No,” she replied softly while holding his gaze. “You shouldn’t have hidden this from me.”
Alexander’s jaw tightened. “You were told to stay away from this part of the house.”
“And you were going to let me marry
