The moment Robert stepped into the room, I knew something had shifted. The energy in the air changed, like a cloud had rolled in, blocking out the light. It wasn’t just his presence—it was the way he walked in, his eyes scanning the room, calculating, as if he knew exactly how to break the fragile peace that had settled between Alexander and me.
I could feel the tension in Alexander beside me, his body rigid, his hand tightening around mine. The space between us felt too small now, as though the warmth we had shared just moments ago had been stolen away by the coldness of Robert’s arrival.
“Robert,” Alexander said, his voice low but steady, though I could hear the edge of something else in it. Something that said he was tired of this game. Tired of the manipulation. “What are you doing here?”
Robert’s lips curled into a smile, the kind that never reached his eyes. “I think we need to talk, don’t you think?” His gaze flicked to me, then back to Alexander, and I saw the way his expressi
