Nadia's POV
The ticking of the clock had become my nightly torment. Many nights now, I had sat in this same spot, watching the hands move in their endless circle while waiting for footsteps that never came.
Mr. Dolf had vanished from the penthouse completely. No late arrivals, no early departures. Just emptiness and the meals I prepared growing cold on untouched plates.
Each midnight, I asked myself the same question. Will tonight be different?
The answer was always the same crushing disappointment.
Yet beneath that disappointment lived something I refused to acknowledge. Relief flooded through me each time he failed to return. This distance between us gave me space to wrestle with the inappropriate feelings that had been consuming my thoughts.
I needed to purge these shameful desires before facing him again. The recent time had been spent in brutal self-examination, forcing myself to confront the disturbing truth of what I was becoming.
