The walls of the mansion were too thick.They held secrets like breath.Tight. Stale. Waiting to be exhaled.Luna sat on the edge of her bed, her hands pressed flat against the mattress as if grounding herself to something real. The silence wasn’t peace anymore, it was surveillance. Every creak of the old wood, every distant footstep down the polished hallways, felt like a question she wasn’t ready to answer.She had felt him outside her door hours ago.The pause in his breath.The weight of him George, just standing there like he was gathering pieces of himself.But he never knocked.He never asked.And somehow, that hurt more.Luna wouldn't deny the fact that having George around made her feel safe. And quietly, dangerously she was beginning to expect that safety. To need it.---The mansion was beautiful and modern in design, but built with the kind of quiet grandeur that didn’t beg for attention. Clean architectural lines, vast glass walls, and carefully curated elegance flowed th
Absolutely. Here's your new chapter, carrying over the emotional weight, secrecy, and growing psychological tension between George and Luna. The tone is slow-burning, layered, and reflective of the unraveling façade.---Chapter Sixteen: The Quiet BetrayalThe garden was unusually still.Moonlight poured in long silver strokes across the stone pathway, cutting sharp lines between light and shadow. The air was scented with lavender and clipped roses, but beneath that sweetness, something darker lingered—unspoken truths, buried intentions.George stood just beyond the hedges, cloaked in shadows, and for the first time in a very long while, he didn’t know what to do.He wasn’t a man easily shaken. Not by market crashes, political scandals, or the vicious games of media warfare. But this—Luna, her voice, those words—had left a crack in his armor. A slow, splintering fault line he couldn’t ignore.> “This will be my last job.”That phrase wouldn’t stop echoing.And worse… she hadn’t sounde
Chapter Six: Whispers of the ChosenThe night was quiet in the outer territories.The winds carried the scent of pine and dew, but beneath it lingered something else. Something ancient. Watching. Listening.Inside a modest, weathered home nestled deep within the woods, a low fire crackled in the hearth. Its glow cast flickering shadows across stone walls and worn furniture. Upstairs, the world slept. Or so it seemed.Downstairs, in the dimly lit kitchen, Freya’s adoptive parents stood facing each other, the silence between them thick with secrets.“She’s changing,” Amara whispered, wringing her hands, her gaze flickering toward the staircase. “Every night I see it in her eyes, the flashes of pain, the confusion. The bond is stirring. She knows something is wrong, even if she can’t name it.”Adrian, once known as Elias in his past life before they went into hiding stood at the window, his jaw clenched as he stared into the forest. “She can’t know yet,” he said at last. “The binding spe
Chapter Six: Whispers of the ChosenThe night was quiet in the outer territories.The winds carried the scent of pine and dew, but beneath it lingered something else. Something ancient. Watching. Listening.Inside a modest, weathered home nestled deep within the woods, a low fire crackled in the hearth. Its glow cast flickering shadows across stone walls and worn furniture. Upstairs, the world slept. Or so it seemed.Downstairs, in the dimly lit kitchen, Freya’s adoptive parents stood facing each other, the silence between them thick with secrets.“She’s changing,” Amara whispered, wringing her hands, her gaze flickering toward the staircase. “Every night I see it in her eyes, the flashes of pain, the confusion. The bond is stirring. She knows something is wrong, even if she can’t name it.”Adrian, once known as Elias in his past life before they went into hiding stood at the window, his jaw clenched as he stared into the forest. “She can’t know yet,” he said at last. “The binding spe
Chapter Sixteen: The Quiet Betrayal (Extended Version)George left the office after dusk, his presence still looming in the air long after he had shut the door. Nathan had offered to drive, but George refused with a clipped, “Not tonight.” The tone brooked no argument.He needed silence.Control.Space.The call from his father had rattled something in him not in the way fear did, but like an old scar suddenly aching again. “Control is an illusion, George. You’ve let it slip. First Emily. Now this Luna.”No name, no warmth, no curiosity. Just a cold accusation. A statement that felt more like a verdict.It wasn’t just the media disaster with Emily that bothered his father. It was the undercurrent something his father, with all his experience in manipulation, had sensed in Luna too.And that’s what disturbed George.Because deep down, he had started sensing it too.---The drive home was mechanical. Smooth roads. Quiet hum of the engine. George’s thoughts, however, were anything but c
Chapter Sixteen: The Quiet Betrayal (Prolonged)The garden was unusually still.Moonlight poured in long silver strokes across the stone pathway, cutting sharp lines between light and shadow. The air was scented with lavender and clipped roses, but beneath that sweetness, something darker lingered unspoken truths, buried intentions.George stood just beyond the hedges, cloaked in shadows, and for the first time in a very long while, he didn’t know what to do.He wasn’t a man easily shaken. Not by market crashes, political scandals, or the vicious games of media warfare. But this Luna, her voice, those words had left a crack in his armor. A slow, splintering fault line he couldn’t ignore.“This will be my last job.”The phrase had come out of her mouth so fluidly. Clean. Measured. Not like a confession—but a decision.George’s breath slowed, as if his body refused to function until he made sense of what he just heard. Luna hadn’t been shaken. She wasn’t crying, pacing, or sounding desp