Chapter 2
1462 Words
The car door closed with a sound too soft to be natural.
Lila sat in the back seat of the black Rolls-Royce, staring straight ahead as the city blurred past like it wanted to erase her hesitation. She still had the contract in her lap. Still hadn’t signed it. Yet somehow, she was already inside Damian Vale’s world.
No one spoke. The driver didn’t. Damian didn’t.
The twins, however, made up for all the silence Milo pressed his face against the glass, pointing excitedly at everything they passed like the city was a personal amusement park. Mia, seated beside him, occasionally turned around to study Lila with unsettling face like she was the final piece of a puzzle they had been assembling for days. Lila shifted slightly. “Are they always this… expressive?”
“They adjust quickly,” Damian said without looking at her.
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“It answers the relevant part.” he replied
She exhaled through her nose. “So you just ignore the rest?”
“Yes.”
That single word should have felt cold, but it didn't, It felt… practiced. Like ignoring things wasn’t a personality trait. It was a survival skill.
The car slowed as they entered a gated estate. Massive iron gates opened silently, like the world itself had been trained to obey. Beyond them stretched a private road lined with tall trees and soft golden lighting. The mansion appeared gradually through the darkness modern, imposing, and too large to feel lived in. It didn’t look like a home. It looked like a statement. Lila leaned forward slightly before she could stop herself. “Do you live here alone?” she asked.
“Yes.” Damian replied coldly.
“That’s… excessive.”
“It is functional.”
She glanced at him. “Everything in your life is functional, isn’t it?”
For the first time, something flickered in his expression. Not emotion, But acknowledgment.
The car stopped, the driver opened the door. Cool night air rushed in. Lila stepped out carefully, immediately overwhelmed by how quiet it was. No traffic. No neighbors. No life beyond the gates. every where was just silent and filled with wealth.
The twins jumped out after her with far more enthusiasm, immediately running a few steps ahead like they already knew the place. Milo spun once in the driveway. “It’s bigger than last time!”
Mia corrected him. “It’s the same size. You’re just smaller.”
“That’s not how sizes work!”
Lila blinked at them. “When was ‘last time’?” Neither answered.
Damian walked past her without stopping. “Inside.”
That was it, no welcome, no explanation,
Just command. Lila followed. The front doors opened automatically.
Inside, the mansion was even more overwhelming. High ceilings. Glass walls. Sculptures placed like decisions rather than decoration. Everything was polished, minimal, expensive and completely lifeless a place designed for display, not living.
A woman in a uniform appeared immediately.
“Mr. Vale,” she said respectfully.
“Prepare the west wing,” Damian replied. “She will stay there.”
The woman nodded and disappeared without question.
Lila frowned. “West wing?”
“You will have your own space,” he said.
“I thought I was supposed to be your wife.”
“You are supposed to appear as my wife,” he corrected. There was a difference in his mind a sharp one.
She followed him deeper into the house, the twins darting ahead like they already knew every corner.
Milo shouted from somewhere ahead, “Do we get her room next to ours?”
“No,” Damian said immediately.
Mia tilted her head. “Why not?”
“Because boundaries exist.”
Mia frowned. “That sounds fake.”
Lila almost laughed.
They stopped at the base of a wide staircase. Damian finally turned slightly toward her. “You will attend events. You will follow instructions. You will not interfere in matters outside the contract.”
“And you won’t interfere in mine?” she asked. “You do not have matters,” he replied. That stung more than it should have.
Before she could respond, a soft voice echoed from the upper floor. “Uncle Damian?" A small girl appeared at the top of the stairs, about seven. Dark hair. Careful posture. The kind of child who had learned early not to take up space.
Sophie Vale.
Lila knew instantly without needing introduction.The twins immediately ran toward her. “Sophie!” Milo called. Mia grabbed her hand. “We got her!”
Sophie blinked. “Got… who?” They both pointed dramatically at Lila.
Silence fell.
Sophie looked down the stairs slowly.
At Lila. At Damian.Back at Lila.
Confusion flickered across her face.
“Is she… staying?” Sophie asked quietly.
Damian nodded once.“Yes.” That was all. No warmth. No reassurance. Just fact.
Sophie didn’t smile but something in her shoulders eased slightly. Lila noticed that, and something in her chest tightened.
Children didn’t relax around coldness unless they had learned to survive it.
a maid approached and gestured toward the stairs. “Miss Hart, your room is ready.”
Lila hesitated, She looked once more at Damian. He was already turning away.
As if she had already been processed.
The twins, however, were still watching her. And this time, they weren’t smiling. They looked excited Like something important had just begun.
---
Her room was too large.
That was the first thought Lila had.
Not luxurious.
Not beautiful.
Too large in a way that made it feel unclaimed.
The bed was made perfectly. The curtains hung without a wrinkle. A suitcase she hadn’t packed herself sat neatly by the wall.
Everything was prepared.
For someone else.
She sat on the edge of the bed slowly, the contract still in her hands. Three months, Fake wife......100,000 dollars. She should have felt relief. Instead, she felt like she had stepped into a story already in progress.
A soft knock interrupted her thoughts, she opened the door expecting staff. Instead, the twins stood there. Milo grinned. “Hi.” Mia waved. “We picked you.”
Lila blinked. “Picked me?” Mia nodded seriously. “Uncle Damian didn’t want you.”
Milo added quickly, “But we did.”
That should have been strange.
It was strange.
And yet… they weren’t lying like children often did. They were stating it like fact.
Lila crossed her arms slightly. “And why does your opinion matter?” Mia tilted her head. “Because he listens when things get loud enough.” Milo nodded. “We can be loud.”
As if to prove it, he suddenly shouted, “SHE’S OURS NOW!” Somewhere down the hallway, a door opened. Footsteps approached very fast.
Lila sighed. “I feel like I’m going to regret asking this, but what exactly are you two planning?” The twins exchanged a look. A very serious one, then Milo smiled. “We’re going to fix him.”
Before Lila could respond, a deeper voice cut through the hallway.
“What did you say?” Damian stood there. Perfectly composed. But something in his eyes had shifted. Not anger but warning.
Mia stepped forward confidently. “We’re fixing you.” A long silence followed. Then Damian looked at Lila.
Not the twins. Her. Just her. And for the first time since she met him, his expression wasn’t entirely controlled. “It seems,” he said quietly, “you’ve already become a problem.”
Lila tightened her grip on the contract, and realized, far too late, this wasn’t an arrangement she had entered.
It was a world she had been pulled into.
And the twins weren’t the only ones who had chosen her.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD