The mansion’s halls felt colder now, as if the very walls had absorbed the fear creeping into Ava’s heart. The letter’s ominous words burned in her mind — The truth will burn everything to ashes. There was no escaping it anymore.

Noah moved silently beside her, every sense alert, every muscle coiled like a spring. His gaze cut through the shadows, searching for threats invisible to the eye.

Ava’s fingers tightened around the letter, her knuckles pale. Memories clawed their way to the surface — memories she had fought desperately to bury.

She whispered, voice fragile but determined, “There’s more to this than just threats. Someone wants me to remember... to pay for something I don’t even fully understand.”

Noah’s eyes darkened. “You’re not alone. I’ll stand with you. But you have to trust me.”

Suddenly, a faint sound echoed through the corridor — a soft, deliberate tapping, like a code only the night could speak. Both froze, breaths caught between heartbeats.

“Someone’s here,” Noah said, voice barely above a whisper.

Ava’s pulse quickened. The shadows seemed to pulse with a life of their own, hiding secrets and dangers alike.

Footsteps approached, slow, deliberate. Ava’s mind raced — was it friend or foe? Ally or enemy?

As the figure stepped into the flickering candlelight, Ava’s breath caught in her throat.

It was someone from her past — someone she thought she’d never see again.

Their eyes locked, and in that charged silence, the fragile line between truth and lies began to blur.

To be continued...