Chapter 172

• Giovanni's Perspective
• I stood at the window of my office, gazing through the cold moonlight at the lit room across the street—the Luna Suite where Fern was staying.
• She had been silent for days since that night, never uttering a single sound of pleading or resentment. This silence troubled me. I could feel the bond that once was so strong between us crumbling bit by bit. The bond that had once given me boundless strength was now the source of my deepest pain. I never imagined it would come to this.