Ashton’s POV

The moment I stepped through the mansion’s gates, my jaw clenched, and my hands curled into tight fists. I didn’t know what I was walking into, only that Alyona had just shattered everything I believed about myself. And somehow, I needed to hear the truth for myself.

Her father was already expecting me.

He stood tall, imposing, not because of his past, though it loomed large, but because of the calm control in his posture, the kind that didn’t require yelling to command ...