Chapter 305 More Terror

• The grey light of dawn was filtering into Lucien Delano’s study. He had refused to allow the lights to be turned on around his desk; instead, small lights glowed dimly at the farthest end of the room. In the dim light of the room, shadows clung to the walls like old memories, whispering secrets of power and loss. The air was heavy with the scent of cigar smoke, a remnant of a recent indulgence that now felt bitter on his tongue, a biting reminder of how Pamela Hawkins had led him on.
• Lucien Delano sat slumped in his grand leather chair, its rich upholstery a stark contrast to the turmoil raging inside him. The flickering flames of the fireplace cast an eerie glow, illuminating the lines etched deep into his craggy, handsome, yet weathered face. They were the marks of a man who had ruled with an iron fist yet felt utterly powerless today.
• His heart raced, pounding like a war drum in the heavy silence of the room. Just hours before, he had been a king in command of his empire, but now, with his wife taken, that kingdom felt like a crumbling facade. The weight of his failures, the vulnerabilities he had long hidden beneath bravado, pressed down on him. Each moment stretched painfully, filled with the echoing sound of footsteps that would not return.