Chapter 72

OLIVIA’S POV As we walked through the narrow corridors of the dungeon, the silence around us seemed to mock me. Each step echoed with a weight that dug deeper into my chest. My fists clenched at my sides, nails biting into my palms. Rage twisted inside me like a storm, fierce and unrelenting. My mother—Laura—imprisoned in this stone box like a criminal. How dare they? How dare they keep her locked away like this? How could Dominic allow it? No—how could he be so blind, so willfully ignorant? He had always been quick to doubt the people who loved him and eager to trust those who stood to gain from his downfall. If Evelyn had wanted this outcome—and I was certain she did—it wouldn’t have taken much to manipulate him. Not him. Not the man who had once looked at me like I was his whole world, only to toss me aside like a discarded promise. “She’s not just another suspect,” I whispered under my breath. “She’s my mother. And they’re going to pay for this.” I felt James’s gaze shift toward me