nst his ribs, a frantic drumbeat against the elegant waltz music that now felt jarringly inappropriate.

as h

ell

ferent. Tr

lling power. Her eyes, once warm and inviting, were now cold, calculating, radiating an intensity that made him shiver. He saw no trace of the love

him. Now, seeing her standing there, a vision of power and elegance, he knew the truth. He had lost something precious, something irreplaceable. And the realization was a crushing blow, a weight pressing down on him, stealing his breath. He

d why, and then the recognition dawned on his face. The thought that she might've discovered about his past with Roselle swirled inside his head. Sofia's hand tightened on his arm, her nails dig

f something in her eyes, a hint of the pain he had inflicted, but it was quickly masked by a cold, unreadable expression. He felt a knot of fear tightening in his stomach. He knew, with chilling certainty, that she was

, vulnerable, as if she could see right through him, see the regret and the guilt that was gnawing at his soul. He wanted to look away, to break the connection, but he couldn't. He was trapped in her gaze, a

ed, her voice strained. "Are you alright?" Her voice was sharp, laced with an edg

he said, his voice hoarse. "I'm fine." He hated lying to her, but he

, that the gentlewoman he had rejected had transformed into this powerful, enigmatic figure. He couldn't understand how she had changed so much, how sh

e wasn't the right woman for him. He had been so focused on his career, on his ambition, that he had failed to see the true value of what he had. He had let her go, convinced that

ignitaries. Ruella greeted them with a cool, composed smile, her demeanor every bit the sophisticate

e way she had looked at him, the love shining in her eyes. He had thrown that love away and squandered it on his selfish am

," she said, her voice sharp. "What is it? What's wrong?" She was

turmoil raging within him. "Nothing," he sai

lization that he had lost the woman he loved and that she had returned, not as the woman he remembered, but as someone else entirely. Someone more powerful

e remembered everything, that she hadn't forgotten the pain he had inflicted. And he knew, with a chilling certainty, that she would make him pay. He just didn't know how, or when. But