Chapter 12 The Reckoning

• The silence in the room stretched on, heavy and suffocating. Maximiliano, once a man who commanded the room with his mere presence, now stood like a shadow of his former self, his fury barely contained. But there was something else—a deep, gnawing fear creeping into his features. The truth was out, and there was no denying it any longer.
• Serria’s heart hammered in her chest as she faced the man who had shaped her life, the man who had been both father and tyrant. She had spent so many years trying to understand him, trying to find some kind of justification for his actions, but now, standing here, it was clear that there was nothing left to salvage. The lies had been exposed. The mask had fallen. And the truth would leave nothing untouched.
• The stranger, whose presence seemed to command the very air, moved toward the center of the room. His eyes never left Maximiliano, but his voice was cold, calculated, as he spoke.