ing cracked across the sky like it wanted to tear it open. Inside, everything was dim and cold - and yet Ve

t her room sin

t k

adn't trembled. His breath had been steady. And the worst part - t

want

still wan

. "Stop thinking about it," she his

s if the person on the other side

bare feet brushed over the cold

hind his back. Aiden's father. Her stepfather. The man who always smiled too perfe

hat somehow always felt like a warning. "Com

inked.

ed once

ined with paintings - but not the glamorous portraits that filled the main

ays hated this p

wood. No one ever entered the Red Room. It was locked, sile

a brass key an

n," h

ted. "What

osu

rs crea

hite sheets. Chandeliers hung like cobwebs made of crystal. And in the cent

eyes wasn't the piano. It

wo

Her eyes sharp but haunting.

fami

" she w

stepping beside her

eath c

journal. The name that made Charlo

l black box. Inside, a string of pearls sat nex

holding a baby. Her eyes weren't haunte

aid. "Before she w

said, her voice cracking. "Wh

once, the performative kin

ca. They turn them into ghosts. And

n her bed, the photograph

oice that whispered from the grave. An

lotte ha

allowed Elara's

her like he'd seen a gho

ghter. She was the buried

hone

greenhouse. Now.

thick with humidity and the sc

Aiden stood at the far end, shirtless, his c

you?" she asked,

rned to her with eyes dar

gs I should've told you before. Things I kept

ightened. "W

die," he said slowl

's heart

ha

her. Because Elara was supposed to be his real wife. You were

sto

couldn'

urdere

yes. But he

ling me this now

mory," Aiden said, stepping closer. "I th

sound of dripping water and th

ic crawling up her spine. "I can't live i

and on her cheek. "Because you're th

led. "What if

brushing against hers. "T

This time slower. De

th blood and secrets between them. N

ca didn't

own in him. To f

st one

room, flipping through the f

seen before. Maybe she'd missed it

re is a truth in this house that can kill. But

ath it,

she didn'

an G

t, the pow

re swallowed

eastern wing, a scream