Lina’s POV
The new house had no echo. That was the first thing I noticed the morning after we arrived. No long marble corridors swallowing footsteps. No distant voices carried through chandeliers and stone. Just quiet walls, soft lighting, and the faint hum of security systems hidden behind clean architecture.
It felt less like a palace.
I stood close to the kitchen island, watching Bella argue with a coffee machine like it had personally offended her.
“This thing has too many buttons,” she muttered.
“It’s smarter than the old one,” I said.
She pressed something. The machine hissed angrily.
“I don’t need my coffee to connect to satellites,” she shot back.
I almost smiled.
Footsteps entered the space. Not hurriedly. Not heavy. It was just controlled and calm.
Carlino.
Bella str
