Anastasia returned to the Montgomery ancestral estate with Dante, but the ride back was steeped in silence. He hadn't said a word since they got in the car, not even a glance her way as the tires crunched over the gravel driveway. As soon as the vehicle stopped in front of the grand estate, Dante got out, rounded the car, opened the door for her without a word, and left the moment her heels touched the ground. No explanation. No goodbye.
Just like that—he was gone again, disappearing like a ghost she couldn't escape.
She climbed the staircase slowly, the echo of her footsteps bouncing off the marbled floors like a reminder of everything closing in around her. The old portraits on the walls stared back, frozen in time, watching another Montgomery girl slowly being led into a fate she hadn't chosen.
