Semua Bab Under His Roof, Her Game : Bab 41 - Bab 50

ELARAI stayed there, sitting on the edge of the desk, my heart beating a little faster than usual. The air in the office felt thick, like it was hard to breathe. Mateo didn't move for a long time. He just stared at me with those dark eyes, trying to see through me. It felt like he was peeling back layers of my skin to find the truth hidden underneath. The silence wasn't peaceful; it was heavy and scary, like a storm was about to hit.He stepped closer. He was so close now that I could feel the heat coming off his body. He didn't look angry, but he looked tired. He looked like a man who had been fighting a war inside his own head for weeks. He leaned in, his voice barely a whisper, sounding almost sad.“Who are you really, Elara?”I didn't answer him right away. I just looked at him. I watched the way his jaw was tight and the way his eyes never left mine. I wanted him to feel the silence. I wanted him to wonder what I was thinking. I could tell that the pause was bothering him. He li

MATEOThe office stayed quiet after she left.I sat there for a long time without moving, my elbows resting on my desk while the smell of her perfume still hung in the air. My tie lay on the floor. My breathing had finally slowed down, but my chest still felt tight somehow. Heavy. Like something had shifted inside the room and refused to settle back into place.The lamp beside the desk cast a low golden light across the floor. One of the papers from earlier had fallen near the couch during everything that happened. Her hairpin was still beside my hand.Small things.Soft things.But they made the room feel dangerous now.I stared at the closed office door, listening to the sound of her footsteps disappear down the hallway outside. Calm footsteps. Not rushed. Not embarrassed.Just steady.That unsettled me more than anything.I had expected her to panic afterward. Or avoid looking at me. Maybe pull her clothes together with shaking hands and rush out like she regretted everything. I th

MATEOI stood in my office, staring through the large window behind my desk. The glass was covered with tiny droplets. Beyond it, the gardens looked gray and lifeless.My whiskey sat untouched beside me.That alone should have told me something was wrong.Normally, after a day like this, I would have finished half the bottle already.Instead, I couldn't stop thinking.Couldn't stop waiting.A sharp knock sounded against my office door.I turned."Come in."The door opened.Dario stepped inside first.The investigator followed behind him.A man in his fifties.Quiet.Careful.The kind of man who made a living finding things other people wanted hidden.My stomach tightened.I hated that.I hated feeling nervous before hearing information about my own wife.Dario closed the door behind them.The investigator sat down across from me.His expression wasn't excited.It wasn't triumphant either.If anything, he looked uncertain.And somehow that made me even more uncomfortable."Well?" I ask

MATEOThe abandoned house sat at the end of a narrow road surrounded by dead grass and twisted trees. The sky above was gray, and the cold wind made the branches scrape against one another like old bones. I stood beside my car for a moment, staring at the house Elara had grown up in. It looked smaller than I expected. Older too. The paint was peeling from the walls, and several windows were cracked. Nothing about it looked dangerous, yet a strange feeling settled heavily in my chest. It felt like the house was watching me. I told myself that was ridiculous. It was just an old building. Just wood and stone and dust. But after everything I had learned during the past few weeks, nothing felt simple anymore. Every answer I found about Elara only created more questions. The investigator's report was sitting on the passenger seat of my car. Giulia Romano. Former wife of Alessandro Romano. Official cause of death: suicide. Unofficially? Nobody seemed to understand what had happened. Every pe

ELARAThe morning started like every other morning.Quiet.Controlled.Predictable.The dining room smelled faintly of coffee and fresh bread. Sunlight poured through the tall windows and painted golden lines across the polished floor. The maids moved around silently, setting plates and refilling cups while the guards remained stationed near the doors like statues.Everything looked normal.But I had learned a long time ago that normal things rarely stayed normal for very long.I sat across from Mateo, slowly stirring my tea while he looked through a stack of documents. His expression was unreadable as always. Cold. Focused. Dangerous.A few months ago, sitting across from him like this would have made me nervous.Now it didn't.That realization was strange.Sometimes I wondered when exactly that fear had disappeared.Or if it had simply changed into something else.I was reaching for my cup when one of the house managers suddenly appeared beside the dining table."Don Navarro," he sa