Elena’s POV

When I saw the man walking toward me, my heart tightened instinctively, and I took two slow steps back before I could stop myself.

It was Matthews.

He looked thinner than the last time I had seen him. The lines of his face were sharper, almost gaunt, and the effortless composure he used to carry now felt stretched thin, as though he were holding himself together through sheer will. I had heard from my mother that he had been removed from his position within the Gong family, and ...