Chapter Thirty Six

The grandeur of Ava's mansion seemed to magnify the weight of the truth Alex had just learned. He stood in the opulent foyer, the marble floors cold beneath his feet, his mind swirling with a tempest of emotions.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Alex's voice trembled with a mixture of anger and hurt as he confronted Ava. His eyes, usually warm with familiarity, now burned with an intensity she had never seen before.

Ava's shoulders sagged under the weight of his accusation, her usually composed demeanor faltering. "I thought I was protecting you," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "But I realize now that keeping the truth from you only made things worse."

The air between them crackled with tension, each moment stretching out like an eternity as Alex grappled with the enormity of Ava's confession. He had spent his entire life believing his father's death to be a tragic accident, only to discover that it was anything but.

"Who killed him?" The words escaped Alex's lips bef