Chapter 47: Finishing the Test
Even Sylvia — who, compared to the other women, hadn’t been as close to Aziz during the five years he had devoted entirely to his training — felt a pang of jealousy upon hearing the words he spoke to Sofia and Zia.
And Stella too. Though her expression remained composed, inwardly, in her heart, she felt a flicker of envy. The words Aziz had spoken reached her more deeply than she would have liked to admit.
Yet she quickly regained her composure, shifting her gaze to her daughter, who now smiled with parted lips, seemingly intoxicated. It was a dazed and dreamy smile, suspended between enchantment and shyness — one meant solely for Aziz.
Aziz, who still held Sofia and Zia in a warm embrace, suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine. This wasn’t just any sensation — it was familiar, intimate, and unmistakable. He knew exactly what it meant.
He turned his head slowly, as though confronting a long-held premonition — and saw her. His beloved mother.
Astrid was watching him. Her dark eyes locked onto his, unwavering, unapologetic. It wasn’t a maternal gaze. There was no protective tenderness, no warmth that usually accompanied her love.
It was something else entirely.
Those eyes looked capable of consuming everything around them — even him. A raw, possessive intensity, as if the very essence of the woman cried out for him, yearning for the exclusivity of his attention.
And yet, despite knowing he might be lost in that abyss if he held her gaze too long, Aziz found it... beautiful.
Beautiful and mesmerizing.
He smiled at his mother — a gentle, affectionate, and deeply sincere smile. The kind shared by someone who knew every nuance of her soul and loved her beyond reason. Even with all her possessiveness, bordering on madness.
But Aziz wanted to make something clear — that he, too, felt the same.