CHAPTER 19 Power Plays and Shadows

  The mansion was unnervingly quiet, the tension from the earlier night still palpable in the thick, cold air. Angela had barely said a word since they'd entered the house, the weight of the unknown pressing heavily on her chest. She hadn't even realized she was holding her breath until she exhaled shakily, her eyes darting around the dimly lit hallway, as though expecting someone, something to emerge from the shadows at any moment.

  Edmund strode ahead, his back to her, his movements as controlled and deliberate as ever. His presence was imposing, filling the room with an aura of dominance that both reassured and unsettled her. He was a man used to power, accustomed to controlling every aspect of his life, and she knew that whatever was happening would not change that. But something had shifted between them tonight. The car, the headlights, the feeling of being watched, it all felt like a warning, a sign that their carefully crafted world was teetering on the edge.