As Amara turned and walked to her car, a sense of dread wrapped around her like a cloak.
She needed answers.. answers she wasn’t even sure she wanted to hear.
With each step, the weight of uncertainty grew heavier, pressing down on her shoulders as though it would suffocate her if she allowed it to.
The question she couldn’t shake, the one that gnawed at her like a persistent wound, was if Rowan…if he really killed Alessandro…
The drive to his private house felt longer than usual, each passing mile only increasing the tension within her.
Alessandro’s death had rattled the entire city, and whispers of betrayal and murder had begun to circulate.
But for her, the whispers weren’t just noise.. they were knives, carving away at her sense of security.
Could Rowan have done it? Could he have killed Alessandro just because she was supposed to marry him?
Her grip on the steering wheel tightened until her knuckles turned white.
She tried to push the thought away, but it lingered, its darkness seeping into every corner of her mind.
Alessandro may have been a man she didn’t love, a man she was forced to engage with due to family ties, but she never wished him dead.
She certainly didn’t want to believe that Rowan, someone she started to see him in new light would actually be capable of killing him out of jealously…
But this world..
their world was built on blood and lies, and she had learned long ago not to trust anyone fully.
Her car came to a stop at the gate of Rowan’s estate.
The guards stood still, their eyes locking onto her with a cautious wariness.
As one of them approached her car, Amara rolled down the window, her voice firm but tinged with the tremor of her internal conflict.
“Tell Rowan I’m here to meet him,” she said, hoping her voice didn’t betray the whirlwind of emotions she was struggling to control.
The guard gave a curt nod, stepping aside to make the call.
Amara’s fingers drummed nervously against the steering wheel as she waited. Every second felt like an eternity, the silence around her only amplifying the chaos within her.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, the guard returned and nodded for her to enter.
As the gates slowly swung open, Amara’s pulse quickened.
The large, imposing structure of Rowan’s estate loomed ahead, its stone walls and dark windows reflecting her own feelings of uncertainty and doubt.
She drove forward, parking near the entrance before stepping out of the car.
The air was cool, a stark contrast to the heat of the anxiety swirling inside her.
As she walked toward the front door, each step felt heavier than the last, the weight of what she was about to confront settling in her bones.
The questions plagued her.. if Rowan had killed Alessandro, what would she do?
Could she forgive him?
Could she even face him .. herself..?
Before she could dwell too long on the what-ifs, the door swung open.
Rowan stood there, his figure framed in the doorway, tall and imposing.
His eyes were calm, but there was something in them, something unreadable that sent a chill down her spine.
“Amara,” he said, his voice even, betraying nothing.
She swallowed hard, her pulse racing as she stepped inside. The air between them felt thick, charged with unspoken tension.
Rowan closed the door behind her, the soft click of the latch echoing in the silence that followed.
“Is everything alright?” Rowan asked, his gaze locked on her, assessing, always watching.
Amara struggled to find her voice, her mind a jumble of emotions.. fear, confusion, doubt, and something she didn’t want to name. “I need to talk to you,” she finally managed, her voice quieter than she intended.
Rowan’s eyes narrowed slightly, his posture shifting. “About what?”
She took a breath, steeling herself. She couldn’t afford to falter now. “Alessandro,” she said, the word hanging in the air between them like a curse.
Rowan’s expression didn’t change, but there was a subtle shift in the air, as though the very room had darkened.
He didn’t respond immediately, waiting for her to continue.
“I know you must already know Alessandro is dead,” she pressed on, her voice shaking despite her efforts to remain calm. “I need to know if… if you had anything to do with it.”
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Rowan’s eyes remained locked on hers, and for a moment, she thought she saw something flicker in them.. something dark, something dangerous.
But just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, replaced by his usual calm demeanor.
“You think I killed him?” Rowan asked, his voice barely more than a whisper, but the menace in it sent a chill racing down Amara’s spine. His eyes were fixed on her, dark and unreadable, as he took a step closer.
Amara could hardly breathe. She could feel the weight of his presence pressing down on her, suffocating her. But she wasn’t going to let him see her fear. Not now. Not after everything. Her voice, however, betrayed her, trembling as she spoke.
“I am asking you, Rowan. Did you do it? Did you kill Alessandro?”
Rowan took another step, closing the distance between them, his gaze never leaving hers. The way he moved, slow and deliberate, was predatory. There was something lethal in his demeanor now, something Amara hadn’t seen before. He stopped just inches from her, towering over her like a dark shadow.
“So what if I did?” he murmured, his voice so cold it made her blood run cold. “So what if I didn’t? Does it really matter?”
Amara stared at him, her heart sinking into a pit of horror. Was this the same man she had known, and started to trust? The Rowan she thought she understood was slipping away before her eyes, replaced by something… darker.
More twisted.
She tried to swallow, her mouth dry, and shook her head slowly, refusing to accept what she was hearing.
“Are you insane?” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Just because you don’t like someone… you would kill them?”
Rowan’s lips twisted into a cruel smile, one that made her skin crawl. “If things come to that,” he said, his voice so calm it was almost detached, “then yes.”
The words hung in the air like a death sentence. Amara felt the ground shift beneath her, everything she thought she knew crumbling into nothingness.
Rowan had always been complex, mysterious..
But this?
This was something else.
Amara’s breath hitched as Rowan leaned in, his presence suffocating, trapping her between his body and the cold wall behind her. “What if I did something to upset you?” she asked, her voice shaking with fear and anger.
“Would you kill me too, Rowan? Is that who you are?”
“You think I’d kill you, Amara?” he murmured, his voice dangerously soft, as if he were toying with the idea. “Do you really think you could ever push me that far?”
Her pulse raced, fear threading through her veins.
She swallowed hard, her voice trembling as she forced the words out. “I don’t know what you’re capable of anymore, Rowan.”
Rowan’s lips curled into a slow, chilling smile, one that sent a shudder through her. “I’m capable of anything when it comes to what’s mine.”