*VINCENZO*
As I stepped into the west wing of my mansion, shadows clung to me like a shroud, every creaking floorboard reverberating the weight of what lay ahead. The air felt thick, heavy with resentment and secrets long buried beneath layers of dust and despair. This wing had always been off-limits to Adeline—a place where light seemed to dim, and darkness whispered tales I had fought fiercely to keep hidden. But tonight, I would tread its haunted corridors for one reason only: Jesse.
I had spent years building walls to ensure Adeline remained untouched by the shadows of my past. I didn't want her to know the blood that seeped through stone, the betrayals that soaked the very fabric of this place. Jesse represented all that was toxic, a venom that had slithered back into our lives, and
