Meryl's POV
It was Adelaide. The figure that emerged from the shadows and stepped into the suffocating, mold-scented darkness of the room was none other than Andre’s ex-wife. A triumphant smirk stretched across her face, a grotesque expression that seemed to steal the very air from my lungs, leaving me gasping in a vacuum of disbelief and horror. My stomach coiled into a tight, painful knot. The men who had been prowling around me, their presence a constant, predatory threat, immediately shifted their attention to her. Their movements were deferential, almost respectful, which only deepened the cold dread seeping into my bones.
