Chapter 141 Hollow Victories

• Rain drums against the windows as we pull up to the mansion, the downpour a fitting backdrop to the tension radiating from Alaki beside me. I study her profile in the dim light of the car’s interior—the rigid set of her shoulders, the careful way she avoids meeting my gaze, the subtle tremble in her fingers as they rest against the door handle.
• She hasn’t spoken a word since we left Viktor’s ball. Not since I caught her watching me disappear with Tatiana behind those heavy curtains. The silence between us feels charged, like the air before lightning strikes.
• As Matvey opens the car door, the sound of rain grows louder, fat droplets illuminated in the security lights. I calculate my approach, deciding on casual authority—the same controlled presence that has served me well in far more dangerous situations than a wife’s silence.