2025-12-08 19:48:08
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98
The Caelis family dining hall had always been a spectacle of grandeur—long tables carved from obsidian, chandeliers dripping with crystal flames, and portraits of past patriarchs glaring down with eyes that followed every breath. Yet tonight, grandeur felt suffocating. The atmosphere vibrated with unspoken hostility, as if the chandeliers themselves leaned closer to witness the night’s inevitable fracture. Vivianne walked at Evan’s side, her heartbeat thrumming beneath her ribs as dozens of eyes tracked her every step. Inside this room, gossip sharpened into weapons, and respect shifted like sand—dangerous, unstable, always ready to bury the unprepared.Evan’s hand rested lightly at the small of her back, guiding her with subtle authority. He was dressed in black—sharp, immaculate, regal—yet there was something more chilling beneath the fabric. An aura. A heaviness in the air that hinted at the bloodshed from the night before, still lingering beneath his skin like phantom fire. No one
97
Midnight draped itself across the Caelis estate like a velvet shroud, muffling the usual evening activity and leaving behind a silence thick enough to feel on the skin. The mansion’s hallways—usually alive with subtle movement, guarded murmurs, and the soft click of polished shoes—were disturbingly still. Vivianne sensed the wrongness of it immediately, even though she lay curled under the heavy duvet in Evan’s chamber, trying desperately to rest after the chaos of betrayal earlier. She had insisted Evan sleep beside her, but he had refused, choosing instead to sit in the armchair near the balcony door, half in darkness, half in moonlight, his silhouette carved from tension.He had changed since the ritual. Not in temperament—his voice was still gentle when he spoke to her—but in presence. His aura, always restrained and composed, now hummed faintly like an awakening storm he kept just beneath the surface. Vivianne watched him from the bed, her voice soft and worried. “You’re not slee
96
Night settled across the Caelis estate with an oppressive stillness, as if the mansion itself held its breath after the ritual in the Ancestor Hall. The corridors were dim, lit only by sparse lanterns that flickered from the residual energy Evan had awakened hours earlier.Vivianne walked beside him, her arm draped protectively around his waist as he leaned into her for support. His steps were slow, weighed down by the aftermath of the ritual—the memories ripped open, the pain of his lineage punched into his bloodstream, the hidden voices of the Caelis ancestors burned into his spine like ancient fire. She could feel the tremors beneath his skin, the aftershocks of power rising through him, and it terrified her that he had been forced into it at all.“You shouldn’t be walking,” she murmured, her voice soft but firm, tightening her hold on him. “You nearly collapsed in my arms. Again. Let me call Jimmy. Or at least a doctor.”Evan managed a faint, tired breath that was almost a smirk.
95
The Caelis mansion stood unnervingly still beneath the gathering dusk, as though the ancient stone recognized what was about to unfold and braced itself in anticipation. Wind brushed across the high windows with a hollow whisper, carrying with it the faint scent of old paper, candle smoke, and something more elusive—an echo of bloodline power that had not been awakened for decades.Vivianne followed closely behind Evan as they approached the farthest section of the mansion, where towering archways turned darker and colder, and even the servants stepped aside with alarmed reverence. She sensed something shifting in the air around them, something older than every political feud she had witnessed since entering this world, something that felt like the mansion was finally exhaling after being forced silent for centuries.Evan stopped before a set of colossal stone doors carved with sigils she had never seen—not modern ones, not ceremonial ones, but markings that looked alive despite their
94
The next morning dawned with a muted, overcast sky, the kind that made the world appear softer while concealing the quiet violence taking place beneath its stillness. Evan stood near the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Caelis executive building, his suit impeccably tailored, his posture relaxed yet sharpened with an underlying intensity that commanded attention without a single spoken word.The city skyline stretched before him—dozens of corporations that once answered only to the highest tier of global influence—but today, they answered to something far more terrifyingly precise: Evan Caelis’ newfound willingness to break anyone who threatened what was his.Vivianne entered the private boardroom behind him, her steps cautious but confident. She had exchanged her coronet for discreet pearl earrings, her hair pinned into a neat twist, her posture portraying quiet grace rather than forced authority. She paused at Evan’s side, noticing how the silver in his eyes refracted the muted dayli
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The afternoon sun slanted across the Caelis estate like a blade of fractured gold, cutting sharp angles through the windows as whispers swirled through the mansion corridors with growing urgency.Something had shifted in the balance of power after Vivianne’s coronation, and every member of the Tier-A bloodlines felt the tremor ripple through their fragile alliances. Even the ancient portraits lining the hall seemed to watch with awakened suspicion as Evan moved through the estate with quiet, predatory grace—his presence unnerving enough to make even seasoned strategists lower their voices when he passed.Vivianne walked beside him, her coronet replaced by a simple pinned braid that still carried the weight of her new title. She tried to focus on the steady steps ahead of her, yet she sensed the hostile gazes lingering at her back. She whispered, barely moving her lips, “They’re staring at me like I’m the omen of their downfall.”Evan’s reply was soft, but edged with steel. “You are si
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