"Take her away."
The order came like steel. No emotion. No hesitation. No room for another word.
The guards immediately dragged her back down the corridor.
But Mateo wasn't finished.
He looked toward the men stationed farther down the hall, his voice turning colder still. "And tell the guards at the outer gates, she never enters this property again." A pause. "Ever."
Yona's face went white.
Because for the first time she understood.
This was not a lover's rejection.
This was banishment.
Permanent.
As they dragged her away, still struggling and shouting, her voice echoed down the long corridor in broken fragments. But Mateo did not watch her go.
He stood very still.
His mind had already fixed on only one thing.
How had Yona known about the baby?
Because that was not madness.
That was information.
And information meant there was a leak..
