The mansion did not sleep that night.
It waited.
Zara remained in the study long after Ethan left, the silence around her growing heavier with every passing minute. The confession had changed everything—what had once been a controlled game was now exposed, raw, and irreversible.
And Ethan…
He had walked away.
Not in anger.
Not in rage.
But in something far worse—
Distance.
Zara exhaled slowly, her fingers curling slightly at her sides. That kind of silence didn’t explode.
It lingered.
It cut.
A sudden crash echoed from the far end of the house.
Zara’s head snapped up.
Another sound followed—louder this time.
Glass shattering.
Voices.
Raised.
Her heart skipped.
It had begun.
Without hesitation, she moved toward the door, stepping into the corridor just as another shout broke through the silence.
“Say it again.”
Liam.
Zara moved faster now, her steps echoing as she followed the sound toward the main hall.
When she reached it—
The scene before her had already erupted.
A shattered glass lay scattered across the floor.
A chair overturned.
The air thick with tension.
Liam stood at the center, his posture rigid, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.
Noah stood opposite him.
Still.
Controlled.
But his eyes—
Burned.
“You heard me,” Noah said quietly.
Liam laughed.
But there was no humor in it.
“You think you can control this?” he snapped. “You think you’ve been in control this whole time?”
Noah didn’t move.
“I think,” he said, “you’ve been reckless.”
Liam took a step forward.
“And you’ve been hiding,” he shot back. “Pretending you’re above everything while you pull strings behind the scenes.”
Zara remained at the...