The echo of footsteps behind her was like a drumbeat in Anaya’s chest as she followed her father’s aide back inside each step heavier than the last, each breath tighter with the weight of unspoken threats. The grand hall of the mansion felt colder now, the marble floors reflecting a world she no longer recognized.

“Your father wishes to see you immediately,” the aide’s voice was clipped, but his eyes held something darker-something like warning. Anaya’s fingers still tingled where Riyan’s had brushed hers moments ago, a fiery reminder burning under her skin.

As the door closed behind her, sealing the terrace’s dangerous night away, Anaya’s mind raced. Was it merely concern, or had someone already caught wind of the forbidden spark threatening to consume her?

Inside the study, her father sat like a king surveying his domain, but tonight his eyes were sharp with suspicion and maybe fear.

“Anaya,” he began, voice smooth but cold, “there are whispers, rumors I will not tolerate. You know the price of defiance in this family.”

She swallowed hard, her heart pounding. To admit the truth was to invite ruin. To lie was to seal her own cage tighter.

Before she could answer, the heavy oak door creaked open, and Riyan stepped inside. The room held its breath, the air crackling with forbidden electricity.

“Didn’t expect to find you here,” her father’s gaze narrowed, “but then again, maybe some rules are made to be broken.”

Riyan’s smirk was devil-may-care, but his eyes held a fierce protectiveness that stirred something fierce inside Anaya.

“Anaya chooses her own path,” he said steadily, stepping closer, the space between them charged and unbearable. “And I... I’m not afraid of the consequences.”

The room darkened, the walls closing in with judgment and history-but in that moment, nothing else mattered except the heat between their shadows.

Her father’s voice was low, a threat wrapped in silk, “Be very careful, both of you. Because some flames burn everything to ash.”

Anaya’s breath hitched. A secret had already started unraveling, one whose strands could either bind them forever or destroy them utterly.