Chapter 248

• Emilia’s POV
• The restaurant was beautiful in a way that felt calculated. Warm golden lights spilled across polished wood tables, soft music hummed in the background, and the aroma of roasted herbs and garlic drifted through the air. But none of it could mask the suffocating tension hanging over our table.
• Alonso Cruz, my father, sat across from me, his smile too polite, his manner too smooth. He wore his charm like armor, but I wasn’t fooled. He was watching us closely, waiting for cracks to show. Beside me, Alaric was a coil wound so tight I worried he’d snap at the slightest provocation.