I Walked Into The Devil’s Lair!

CHAPTER FOUR: THE BEGINNING OF THE STORM

Lena stood inside the glass building, arms leaning against a padded chair. Adrian had already dropped the bomb and then walked out.

The room felt enormous now, almost hollow, A montage it held Adrian’s presence, making it feel controlled, it’s no surprise the air feels mostly thinner.

She looked around a little, taking in the environment, her eyes stopping at the door Adrian had disappeared through. She wondered if it would open again. It doesn’t, making Lena feel slightly disappointed. She exhales slowly, the soft lighting, the polished floors, the huge windows overlooking the gardens outside the estate, yet none of it feels welcoming. Everything about this place felt so expensive; the entire estate felt like the home of some medieval royalty.

“Orr… were they?” she wondered, not sure what to believe anymore. She shook her head.

Lena walked towards the window. Outside the main mansion, standing firmly across the estate, it glowed in warm light. It looked so unreal, the thoughts flowed back in again. By tomorrow, this would be her new home as Mrs. Hayes. She let out a quiet laugh under her breath, the kind people make when things start getting absurd or too unfamiliar.

“Married, huh”, she murmured jokingly to herself.

Just a few hours ago she was worried to death in the courthouse about the fate of her brother and now she’s preparing to live with a man she barely knows.

Her fingers slightly brushed against the edge of the table where Adrian had stood earlier. For a moment she remembers the way he looked at her. Those piercing grey eyes that studied everything without missing a detail, she pictured the way the office lights had captured the sharp angles of his cheekbones.

“Great”

“Just great”, she muttered under her breath

Just as she was lost in thought, the front door opened startling her, A man in a dark suit stepped inside.

“Miss Hart”

Lena turned instinctively. startled.

“I’m Mr. Hayes’ driver”, he said respectfully

“He asked me to take you home so you could prepare your things.”

Lena blinked while staring at him, slightly stunned.

Of course, Adrian already arranged that.

She grabbed her bag slowly, nodding subtly, still trying to process the dramatic changes in her life over the past few hours.

She followed the man out the front door, and as she walked out of the building and into the night air, she glanced one last time at the massive mansion glowing across the gardens. Tomorrow the place would be her forever home, the thought alone terrified her.

The car slowed as it pulled in front of Lena’s apartment building, and she stepped out muffling a quiet “thank you”.

The night air was quieter and simpler unlike the polished silence of Adrian’s estate. She stood there for a second looking at the familiar building. It looked oddly smaller than before. The driver waited patiently beside the car while Lena walked to the entrance, her heels echoing softly against the pavement as she climbed the short steps, she swerved her keys into the keyhole, calmly pushing the front door open right after, and she looked back signaling the driver with a smile that he could go. He nodded, getting into the car and speeding off.

Inside, everything felt the same.

The faint scent of lavender from the candle she had burned the night before still lingered in the air. Her small living room greeted her with the same warm couch, bottles of booze were scattered all over the desk,

“What a night you had there Lena”.

she said mockingly feeling slightly embarrassed, the same coffee table was stacked with magazines she never finished reading.

Somehow…it all felt different now.

Lena dropped her bag on the couch slowly walking further inside, she’d be living for good tomorrow, that thought alone made her chest tighten.

She moved into her bedroom, pulling her suitcase from the bottom of the closet. It scraped softly against the wooden floor as she dragged it out. For a moment, she stood there, staring at it.

“Unbelievable”, she muttered quietly

Lena began packing slowly, folding clothes into the suitcase one by one, her movements absent-minded as her thoughts kept drifting back to Adrian.

His calm voice and steady gaze.

The way he had called her little storm as if he already knew her. She paused when her eyes landed on a photo frame sitting on her bedside table, it was a picture of her and Noah two years ago at the beach. They were both laughing as the wind tossed their hair everywhere. Lena’s lips rose subtly, her eyes got watery as she stared at them being

Happy.

Unbothered.

She picked up the frame gently.

“This better be worth it,” she whispered. After a moment she placed the photo carefully inside the bag. No matter how strange this arrangement was… she had done it for Noah.

Lena zipped the suitcase stopping halfway, the room felt quiet, her eyes then drifted towards her phone lying on the bedside table. For a moment she hesitated. How exactly was she supposed to explain this to anyone?.

Married?, To a man she barely knew?.

She let out a slow breath before reaching for her phone.

There was only one person she could even attempt to tell, and that was her best friend Julian.

Julian has been Lena’s best friend since they were kids, their parents basically raised them as sisters, and they had an inseparable bond making it harder for them to stay so long apart, After the death of Lena’s parents, their bond grew even thicker, Julian’s parents took Lena and her brother in as their own, raising them till they had graduated college.

The screen lit up as she typed her name on her contact list, she then rang the number twice before Julian eventually picked up.

“Lena?”, her friend’s voice came through, slightly confused.

“It’s pretty late, is everything okay?”. She asked, seemingly worried.

Lena leaned against the edge of the bed, rubbing her forehead.

“Not really”. She quietly admitted.

“You’re not going to believe this”

A short pause….

“I signed a marriage contract, Julian”.

There was Silence…

“You did what?!”, Julian’s voice shot through the phone.

Lena winced slightly pulling the phone away from her ear.

“It’s…it’s not what you think”

She tried to explain quickly.

“It’s complicated”.

“Girl, this better be one crazy ass joke”. Julian said still in disbelief.

Lena shut her eyes taking a deep breath before talking, “I really wish it was” she muttered.

“How would you say something like this over the phone to me and expect me to sleep peacefully tonight?”.

Lena let out a loud sigh.

“I didn't know who to tell”

“Good because you’re gonna tell me every detail about what’s going on” Julian said firmly. “ Not over the phone though, I need to see your face in person to confirm you haven’t lost your mind.”

Lena let out a small giggle.

“Julian…”

“Thirty minutes,” she interrupted, ”meet me at our usual spot”.

Lena, a bit confused asked “the bar?”.

“Yes, the bar”, Julian replied without hesitation.

Lena glanced around her apartment one last time before nodding to herself.

“Ughh fine… I’ll be there”

“Good”, ”and Lena?”

“Yeah?”,

“Don't you think u dare disappear on me tonight, you’re explaining everything”.

The call ended.

Lena lowered the phone slowly, her reflection catching in the dark screen, she sat there for a moment before getting up, grabbing her jacket, and closing the suitcase halfway. Packing could wait, Right now she needed to say this out loud to someone who knew her before it all became too real.

The bar was dimly lit, the kinda place where conversations blurred into soft music and glasses.

Julian was already there…of course, she was.

Lena spotted her immediately, seated at the corner table, one leg crossed over the other. She had a drink in her hand as she waited like she had been waiting for a while.

The moment Julian saw her, her eyes widened with excitement.

“Lena!!!”

Her voice cut clean through the noise making heads turn but she didn't even care, she shot up from her seat so fast that her chair scraped loudly against the floor.

She rushed forward, already putting Lena in a tight hug before she could even respond.

“You disappeared on me for like two days, I was this close to filing a missing person report”.

She added dramatically, pulling back just enough to look at her properly.

Her hands immediately went to Lena’s shoulders, turning her slightly left then right inspecting her like she was checking for damage.

“Wait a minute…you look suspiciously calm” she paused narrowing her eyes.

“Wait…how’s Noah?”.

The question landed gently shifting the mood a little bit. Julian’s brows pulled together immediately, “Wait, I thought he was getting better?”, Lena hesitated glancing away for a second. “That’s actually part of the reason I wanted to see you”.

“Sit, now tell me everything.”

Lena barely had time to settle before, Julian leaned in, eyes shimmering with anticipation.

A waiter passed and Julian signaled quickly.

“Two drinks… strong”, her attention snapping back to Lena.

“I’m all ears”.

Lena took a deep breath, “I signed a marriage contract”.

Silence. Julian blinked once speechless, and leaned back.

“…you’re joking”

“I’m not.”, There was another pause.

“You…you’re serious?”, Julian’s voice dropped.

Lena nodded slowly. Julian let out a small disbelieving laugh, running a hand through her hair.

“Okay-let me understand this…, you…Lena signed a marriage contract with who exactly?”. Lena hesitated.

Julian’s eyes narrowed.

“He’s a businessman” Lena finally said looking down at her drink. Julian scoffed, “That tells me absolutely nothing”.

“Is he rich?” She added, eyes stuck on Lena, She didn’t answer. don’t stay quiet like that, that means yes”, Lena looked away too embarrassed to admit it.

“Oh my God, he is rich”.

Julian realized as she dropped her hand to the table with a soft slap. “And powerful” Lena added quietly

Julian stared at her like she was trying to arrange reality.

“Of course he is, it’s never just a normal man, is it” she muttered.

The drinks arrived right on time. Lena wrapped her finger around the glass not taking a sip, “I did this for Noah”, she said instead, that changes everything. Julian’s gaze softened

“You did this for him”.

She stuttered on the brink of tears. Julian drew closer, slowly caressing Lena’s hands.

“ I love you and just know that I’m always here” Lena straightened up, she was glad to have a friend like Julian.

“But…do you even know this man”

“Not really”

“That’s not comforting”, A brief silence passed, “ So what’s the Deal ?”, Julian asked.

“It has to look real, in public and everything”

“And privately”

“We stay out of each other’s lives”, Lena added taking a huge gulp of her drink.

Julian frowned.

“Do you trust him?” Julian asked.

Lena hesitated, “I…I don’t know”. Julian exhaled in disappointment,

“ When does this start?”,

“Tomorrow”, Julian froze…

” You’re joking.”

“I’m moving in with him”, Julian stared for a long moment before shaking her head.

“You really did this Lena”

“I didn’t have a choice”

Julian reached for her hand again, “If anything feels wrong you call me immediately, you understand?”

Lena’s lips lifted subtly at the corners, trying to cover up the pain.

“ You know I will Julian”

Neither of them spoke for a moment, the noise of the bar continuing around them as if nothing had changed, but at that moment everything had.

Later that night, Lena stood in the doorway of her apartment, her packed suitcase sitting quietly beside her, the room felt smaller now… temporary. She glanced around one last time before turning off the lights.

A message popped up on Leah’s phone. Confused, Lena sat up, squinting as she tapped the message.

“Adrian Hayes is not who you think he is”.Written in bold.

As she was still trying to process what had happened another message dropped.

“Be very careful…he’s dangerous.”

Lena was stunned.

What was this about?.

Was she being watched?!. She looked up in panic.

What on earth could she have gotten herself into…