The mansion stood alone on the edge of a sheer cliff, its dark stone walls rising like a fortress above the sprawling city below. Rain poured relentlessly across the grounds, streaking the towering windows and turning the distant city lights into blurred smears of gold and crimson. Black iron gates guarded the winding drive, while rows of cypress trees bent beneath the weight of the storm. Inside, warm amber light glowed behind heavy curtains, offering only fleeting glimpses of marble floors, grand staircases, and dark wood balconies. The mansion was beautiful in the way a loaded gun was beautiful—expensive, deliberate, and quietly threatening. Far below, thunder rolled over the city, while the estate remained impossibly still, watching over everything beneath it.