Chapter 161 The Crossroad

• Alessia’s POV
• The morning air was thick with tension. Dominic hadn’t said much since the night before, and I could tell something was eating at him. The silence between us had become unbearable, and I was starting to feel the weight of the situation in ways I hadn’t anticipated. The investigation was picking up pace, but so was our internal conflict. Every piece of the puzzle was getting closer to being solved, but neither of us could see the full picture just yet. Owen's statement was really a handful.
• We sat across from each other in the small, dimly lit office I’d set up. The desk was cluttered with papers, notes, and photographs, all pinned to the walls like a detective’s feverish mind laid bare. I could feel Dominic’s presence even though he didn’t look at me, his eyes fixed on the file in front of him. It was like we were playing a game, but the stakes were much higher than either of us had ever anticipated.