Chapter 44 An Emotional Confession

• The sun had dipped below the horizon, casting the mansion in hues of soft blues and shadows. The quiet was heavy, punctuated only by the rhythmic ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway. Celia sat curled up on the window seat in her room, staring out at the darkened gardens but seeing nothing. Her thoughts churned relentlessly, the weight of Lucas’s threats pressing down on her chest like an iron vice.
• How had it come to this? She had only wanted to follow her heart, but now that choice seemed to have unleashed a storm. A quiet knock on the door startled her from her spiraling thoughts.
• “Celia?” Alexander’s deep voice carried through the wood, cautious yet warm. “Can I come in?”