FLASHBACK - THE PRESSURE TO CONCEIVE
THE EMPTY DOCTOR'S OFFICE
Elisa, younger, her face bright-eyed but already haunted by anxiety, sat in a cold, sterile clinic room. The doctor, a man with tired eyes, shook his head gently.
"I'm sorry, signora… no signs of baby yet. Maybe next month. The tests still show no clear reason, but the results are consistent."
Elisa forced a smile that didn't remotely reach her eyes, a performance of hope she no longer felt.
Alessandro stood at the doorframe, a statue of stone, his expression utterly unreadable. Not angry, not comforting — just… distant. Terribly, threateningly distant.
"Let's go," he said curtly, his voice flat, devoid of sympathy.
A silent, volatile storm brewed in the tight clench of his jawline, in the fists he deliberately hid deep in his coat pockets.
The humiliation of failure was eating him alive.
NIGHT IN THE MANSION
