Clara, still clutching the blanket, lifted her tear-streaked face. Her eyes, red and swollen, held a raw, bewildered pain. "You know..." she whispered, her voice barely a thread, "he was the one who told me he wanted an open marriage. He even brought her to the house so I could meet her..." Her gaze moved from Silas's stoic face to Kai's clenched jaw, then settled on Dante, whose eyes were like chips of ice. "Why would he do this...?"
Her question hung in the air, a desperate plea for understanding a betrayal so profound it defied logic. The men had no immediate answer, only the stark, undeniable proof of Julian's monstrous hypocrisy.
The kitchen went utterly still. The air grew thick with a cold, terrifying rage that descended like a shroud. No one moved. No one spoke. Only Clara's ragg
