Semua Bab For What Still Burns : Bab 11 - Bab 14

Damien"Only dahlias," I said into the phone, balancing it between my shoulder and cheek while flipping through a file. “Dark red. The kind that looks almost black in certain light. No fillers, no roses, no distractions. Just them.”The florist on the other end hesitated. “Would you like to include a card, Mr. von Adler?”I stared out the floor-to-ceiling window of my office. The skyline was pale today, dipped in soft grey, like the city itself was holding its breath.“No card,” I said quietly. “Just the flowers.”When we were seventeen, Aria told me she loved dahlias because they looked like stars that bloomed in the wrong sky. "They’re romantic in a quiet way," she’d said, twirling one in her fingers during some field trip I barely remember except her. "Like they’re trying to be noticed, but not too much. I like flowers that don’t beg."And of course she’d like something like that. Something beautiful, subtle, unyielding.After hanging up, I opened a browser tab and typed in the num

AriaThe smell of cinnamon and caramel danced in the air, warm and sharp like memory. My kitchen was loud with laughter and clattering trays… chaos in its purest, most comforting form.“Hugo,” I called over the noise, “if you keep piping like that, I’m going to enter you into the next city bake-off.”He grinned, smearing icing across a cake like it owed her money. “Only if you promise not to come and steal the prize, boss.”“Me? Never,” I said with mock offense. “I’m far too humble for that.”A ripple of laughter spread through the kitchen. Beryl was flipping pancakes like he was auditioning for a cooking show. Serena was dancing between two timers, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like Beyoncé lyrics.It was normal. Easy. Safe.Until Maeve poked her head through the swinging door and said the words that sent my heartbeat into a nosedive.“They’re here.”I didn’t ask who. I didn’t need to.I wiped my hands on a towel, straightened my apron, and walked out into the front of