The chapel doors stayed shut, but Amara felt as though the world had already closed in on her. Every heartbeat ricocheted off the marble walls, every breath scraped like broken glass.Luca’s eyes, wild, desperate, were fixed only on her. Ethan’s, dark, unreadable, watched her with the patience of a predator who already knows the prey is too tired to run.“You think he’ll free you?” Luca’s voice cracked as he jabbed a finger toward Ethan. “He thrives on your ruin. He’ll whisper that you’re strong while tightening the leash. That’s what he does, Amara!”Ethan’s chuckle was low, unhurried. “And yet, she stands closer to me now than to you. Curious, isn’t it?”Amara flinched, realizing it was true. Her body had shifted, imperceptibly, but enough for both men to see. Her betrayal wasn’t in words but in the instinctive lean toward the very danger she should fear.Luca stepped forward, but the movement sent Amara stumbling back. Her hands trembled, palms up as if fending off a blow. “Please,
The silence stretched so tight it was suffocating. Luca’s breath came ragged, his fists trembling at his sides, while Amara’s gaze burned into Ethan’s like a drowning woman staring at the devil offering his hand.“You wanted honesty,” Ethan murmured, his voice low and silken, curling around the edges of her frayed resolve. He stepped closer, not too close, but enough for his shadow to mingle with hers beneath the flickering candlelight. “Here it is. He claims his oath was about me, about fear. But I have never sworn to kill you, Amara. Not once. My sin is obsession, yes, but never death. Tell me, who truly loves you?”Luca lunged, but Amara raised her hand like a command, halting him in his tracks.“Don’t,” she whispered hoarsely. “Don’t you dare move right now.”The broken authority in her tone made Luca freeze. His chest heaved like a man chained to a cliff’s edge, forced to watch the woman he loved inch toward the precipice.Ethan tilted his head, savoring Luca’s torment before ret
The storm clawed at the stained glass, hurling shadows across the chapel floor. Amara stood trembling, her tears cutting through silence sharper than any blade. Ethan leaned on the altar, patient, savoring every fracture in their bond.Luca’s hands curled into fists at his sides, his nails digging deep, blood welling, but he didn’t notice. He looked at Amara as though she were the only anchor in a world collapsing.“I need you to hear me,” he said hoarsely. “Not him. Me.”Amara’s lips quivered, but she didn’t answer.He stepped closer, his voice stripped of all steel, raw like an open wound. “I grew up in a house where silence meant survival. My father, he believed love was weakness. Every kindness I had, Ethan took. Every warmth I found, it was punished. I learned to build cages, to hold on to anything precious before it was stolen from me.”Ethan’s smile flickered, his eyes narrowing at the mention of their father.Luca’s chest heaved, his words tumbling now, unrestrained. “The firs
The storm raged without mercy, but it was nothing compared to the silence that swallowed the chapel.Amara’s breath came in jagged gasps, her chest rising and falling as though the air itself had turned poisonous. She staggered back a step, her gaze locked on Luca, as if seeing him for the very first time.“You… chose me?” she whispered, the words brittle, splintering as they left her lips. “Not because of love. Not because of me. But because I fit into some twisted plan?”Her tears shimmered in the candlelight, carving tracks down her pale cheeks.Luca took a step toward her, his voice low, desperate. “It wasn’t like that. Amara, listen to me—”“Don’t.” Her voice sliced through his like broken glass. She lifted a trembling hand to halt him, as though even his presence burned her. “Every time I believed in you, every time I thought I could finally trust what we had, there was always a shadow, wasn’t there? Always something you weren’t telling me.”Ethan leaned lazily against the altar
The air thickened as if the storm outside had seeped into the chapel. Amara stood between them, her breath shallow, her heart pounding in her ears.Ethan’s smirk widened, taunting. “How noble, Luca. Always the protector. But tell me, are you protecting her… or the truth?”Luca’s jaw tightened, his gaze never leaving his brother. “You’ve said enough.”“Not nearly,” Ethan replied, his voice like silk over broken glass. “She deserves to know. Don’t you think, Amara? Don’t you deserve the truth about the man you trust with your soul?”Her throat felt dry. “Luca… is it true?” Her voice trembled, but the question hung heavy, unavoidable.For the first time, Luca’s eyes flickered to her. The iron in his expression cracked, if only for a heartbeat, and that fracture tore at her chest. He didn’t answer.Ethan let out a soft, mocking laugh. “Silence. Always silence. That’s how he wins, dove. He starves you of answers until your need for him outweighs your doubts. And then you’ll forgive him any
The old quarter was quiet, its cobblestone streets slick with rain. Amara kept her hood up as she walked, her heartbeat thundering louder than her footsteps. Every window she passed felt like an eye. Every corner, a trap.The chapel appeared at the end of the lane, small, weathered, its stone walls streaked with moss. Its bell tower was cracked, leaning, like it had been forgotten by time.She hesitated at the door. Her hand trembled against the wood. One push, and she’d be inside with him. One push, and there would be no undoing it.The hinges groaned as she stepped in.The interior was dim, lit only by the fractured light through stained glass. Dust floated in the air, and in the front pew, Ethan sat with his head bowed, like a penitent sinner waiting for absolution.When he looked up, his smile was slow, inevitable. “You came.”Her throat tightened. “Don’t make this sound like fate.”“Isn’t it?” He stood, the shadows clinging to him as if reluctant to let him go. “After everything