CHAPTER 4 — Shadows Behind the Glass
1044 Words
The gala continued around them, bright and loud, as if nothing had happened outside.
Ariella stood at the edge of the ballroom, Damien in front of her, Elias beside her. They formed a silent barrier around her.
Damien brushed a snowflake from her hair. “Tell me exactly what you heard.”
Ariella swallowed. “A voice. Close. Too close. They… called me ‘little princess.’”
Damien’s jaw tightened so hard she heard his teeth click.
“Someone followed you out,” he said. “That’s not a coincidence.”
Elias folded his arms. “Someone was already watching her inside.”
“What do you mean?” Ariella asked.
Elias didn’t look away from the crowd. “I noticed a man near the back entrance. He wasn’t dressed like a guest. He disappeared the moment you left the piano.”
Damien shot him a glare. “And you didn’t think to tell me?”
“I went after him,” Elias replied calmly. “And I found him—right before he slipped into the garden.”
Ariella felt the room tilt slightly. “Why would someone follow me?”
“Because you’re valuable,” Damien muttered.
Ariella blinked. “Valuable?”
Damien froze.
Elias’s eyes flicked sharply to him, warning.
Ariella didn’t miss it.
Before she could ask anything else, Gina appeared behind them with her syrup-sweet voice.
“Ariella, darling, why do you look pale? Did you see something frightening? A shadow?” She smirked.
Damien stepped in front of Ariella instantly. “Leave her alone.”
Gina pouted. “I was only asking.”
Ophelia joined her, looping her arm through Gina’s. “Poor Ariella. Always so dramatic.”
Ariella stared at them, breath tightening.
“You knew,” she whispered before she could stop herself.
Ophelia blinked. “Knew what?”
“You knew something would happen out there.”
Ophelia’s smile thinned. “Why would I?”
Damien’s voice came out like steel. “Walk away.”
Gina and Ophelia exchanged a look, then backed off, smiling wide enough to show teeth.
When they were gone, Ariella whispered, “Damien… what did you mean by valuable?”
Damien opened his mouth—then closed it again.
Elias answered instead.
“You’re your father’s only heir. People target heirs.”
Damien shot him a warning glare, but Elias continued.
“And you’re talented. Intelligent. Public. Easy to track.”
Ariella felt suddenly small.
Damien touched her cheek. “Hey. Look at me.”
She raised her eyes.
“You’re safe with me,” he said softly. “Whatever this is, I’ll stop it.”
Elias said nothing—but the intensity in his gaze told her he silently agreed.
A bell chimed from the stage.
The host called out, “Please, all guests, join us for the final performance!”
Damien looked at Ariella. “You should rest. You don’t need to go back on stage.”
Ariella shook her head. “I have to… or people will start talking.”
Elias stepped forward. “If she goes, one of us stays with her.”
Damien nodded. “I’ll go with her.”
Ariella hesitated—then took Damien’s hand.
Elias watched them quietly, unreadable.
---
Backstage
Ariella sat on a velvet bench while Damien paced near the curtains.
“You don’t have to do this,” he murmured again.
She smiled faintly. “Damien… I’ll be fine. It’s just a duet this time, remember?”
Damien sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. “Then I’m staying right here.”
Ariella brushed her fingers over the piano keys, letting a soft chord drift through the room. Music calmed her breathing.
Damien stopped pacing, watching her.
“You really are magic,” he whispered.
She looked up at him, cheeks warming. “It’s just a piano.”
“No,” he said, stepping closer. “It’s you.”
A soft, fragile silence settled between them.
Before either could speak, the stage coordinator called, “Ariella, you’re up next!”
Ariella stood, smoothing her dress. “Here goes nothing.”
Damien touched her wrist before she stepped out.
“I’m right behind the curtain,” he murmured. “If anything feels off, call my name.”
She nodded, her stomach fluttering. “Okay.”
She walked onto the stage.
Applause rose like a wave.
She sat at the piano, inhaled deeply—
—and began to play.
The melody filled the hall, warm and flowing, wrapping around the audience like silk. Her fingers danced, each note steady despite the storm inside her chest.
Halfway through the duet, her partner joined with a violin.
Everything felt almost normal.
Almost safe.
Until she saw it.
A man standing near the exit doors, half-lit by the chandeliers.
He wasn’t clapping.
He wasn’t smiling.
He was staring directly at her.
Ariella’s fingers faltered—only for a second.
But Damien noticed.
He moved instantly.
Elias appeared on the opposite side of the hall at the same moment.
The man smirked.
Then he walked out the door.
Ariella kept playing, but panic was rising like a tide.
Who was he?
Why was he watching her?
Why did it feel like he knew her?
---
After the Performance
The moment she stepped backstage, Damien pulled her into a tight hug.
“Ariella, talk to me. What happened?”
“There was a man,” she whispered. “He was staring at me. The same one Elias saw earlier, I think.”
Elias joined them, breath slightly uneven. “He’s gone. Slipped out through the back.”
Damien swore under his breath.
Ariella pressed a hand to her chest. “Why won’t he stop?”
Elias stared at her with a seriousness she had never seen before.
“Because whoever sent him isn’t finished.”
Her heart dropped.
Damien held her hand firmly. “I’m taking you home. Now.”
Ariella nodded shakily.
But as they stepped out into the corridor, a soft laughter drifted from the top of the stairs.
Ophelia.
Gina beside her.
They weren’t laughing at anything.
They were laughing at Ariella.
A cold realization slithered into her mind.
They knew something.
And they were enjoying every second of her fear.
---
- Writer
