The mandatory confrontation with her father could no longer wait for a better moment. By the following morning, Zeraida and Xaviere arrived at the main Winterland estate without bothering to announce their sudden visit in advance.
The familiar, cold mansion, which had once served as a towering symbol of everything she had spent three long years escaping, now felt disturbingly different to her senses. Every polished marble corridor seemed to conceal yet another buried secret behind its pristine wooden doors.
Her father was sitting alone inside the private primary library when they pushed the double doors open. His guarded expression altered immediately upon seeing Xaviere standing tall beside his daughter, his eyes lingering on their unified posture.
"You came here today to ask about Evelyn," her father stated quietly, setting his reading glasses down on the desk pad.
Zeraida stopped several feet away from his mahogany desk, holding her head high and her shoulders back.
