The gilded hall echoed with the silence that followed Leo's last sentence, the weight of his words settling heavy upon Selena and her father like a shroud.
The air crackled with tension as they stood facing Leo, a boy whose humor and arrogance now bore the fierce weight of the decisions that could either save or shatter their family's legacy.
Leo leaned back against his ornate chair, the very embodiment of relaxed composure, while his emerald eyes sparkled with mischief.
"Since you are both so eager to negotiate, let's lay out a condition," he said, each word dripping with that casual disdain that sharpened the tension in the room to a fine point.
Selena's stomach tightened.
What could he possibly ask for?
She stole a glance at her father's clenched fists and worried brow, a shadow flickering beneath the surface of his usually composed demeanor.
She could sense the storm brewing, and nothing about this moment felt like the calm from before a tempest.
