The days after the office incident became unbearably fragile between them.Just… tense in the quietest way possible.
Like both of them were standing on opposite sides of a collapsing bridge pretending not to hear the cracks beneath their feet.Rafael noticed everything now.
The way Aria sometimes stared at him too long before looking away. The way she hesitated before smiling. The way she stopped asking questions completely.And somehow… her silence hurt more than accusations ever could.
Because Aria was trying to trust him. Trying desperately to give him space to tell the truth himself.But every day he stayed silent, guilt slowly consumed him alive.
That night, rain poured heavily over Velmora, turning the city lights beyond the mansion windows into blurred gold and silver shadows.
Rafael stood alone in his office, staring at the locked drawer beneath his desk.
The same drawer hiding every truth he had spent years burying.
Files. Photographs. Reports. Blood.
