Ariana’s POV

The silence in this house was louder than most people’s screams.

I didn’t know what time it was. Morning? Evening? The gold-tinted windows gave no hint. Leone’s mansion seemed built to trap time, to swallow it whole and spit it out whenever it pleased.

I wasn’t sleeping. I wasn’t exactly thinking either. Just… existing.

So I wandered.

Not to run, not to escape just to breathe in air that didn’t smell like secrets and cold marble.

The hallways ...