Isabella froze, her heart hammering in her chest as Gerald’s words hung in the air like a dark cloud, suffocating the room with their weight. For a moment, she couldn’t process what had just been said. She blinked, her mouth opening slightly, but no sound came out. The men before her sat with an eerie calm, as if they had just discussed the weather or a trivial matter. Matteo, who moments ago had seemed protective, now sat stiffly, his eyes downcast, betraying no emotion.
“This—this is some kind of joke, right?” Isabella finally managed to say, her voice shaky as she stood up abruptly, the chair scraping against the cold marble floor. Her pulse quickened, adrenaline beginning to surge through her veins. Every fiber of her being screamed that something was horribly wrong. She scanned their
