Chapter 3
1605 Words
“I said,” he repeated calmly, “what did you say?” The twins didn’t move.
Milo stood with his chin lifted like he was facing a judge instead of a billionaire. Mia clasped her hands behind her back, expression completely innocent in a way that was clearly practiced.
“We said we’re fixing you,” Mia repeated.
Damian’s gaze didn’t flicker. “You don’t fix people.”
Milo shrugged. “Then we’ll try anyway.”
Lila exhaled slowly, already sensing this was the kind of household where peace lasted about three seconds at a time.
“Maybe,” she said carefully, stepping slightly between them, “we should all agree that I’m still new here and no one is fixing anyone tonight.”
The twins immediately turned to her, Mia nodded like she approved the logic. “Okay. Not tonight.” Milo added quickly, “Tomorrow?”
Lila opened her mouth, Closed it again. Damian’s voice cut in before she could respond. “Go to bed.”
The twins didn’t argue they both looked at each other, then at Lila, as if confirming a shared plan only they could see. “Goodnight, Lila,” Mia said sweetly. “Goodnight,” Milo echoed, then added under his breath, “for now.”
And just like that, they disappeared down the hallway, Lila watched them go, then turned slowly to Damian. “They’re six for God sake,” she said.
“And so?” Damian replied
“And you just let them… declare war on your emotional stability?"
“I do not negotiate with children.”
“That explains a lot,” she muttered.
His eyes narrowed slightly. “Excuse me?”
“Nothing,” she said quickly. “Just… adjusting.”
That word seemed to satisfy him. He turned. “Follow me.”
Lila hesitated. “Where?”
“Rules.” he said
That did not sound promising.
---
The study was on the opposite wing of the mansion, of course it was. Everything in this house was separated like emotional compartments each room designed to avoid overlap with anything human, Damian didn’t sit. He stood behind a long dark desk, hands resting lightly on the edge. Lila remained near the doorway.
“First,” he said, “you will maintain public appearance as my wife.” She nodded slowly.
“Second. You will not discuss personal matters with staff.”
“Okay.” Lila replied
“Third. You will not interfere in my decisions.”
“That one’s already impossible,” she said before she could stop herself.
His gaze lifted.
She sighed. “Sorry. Continue.”
“Fourth,” he said, “you will not form emotional attachments to anyone in this house.”
That made her pause.“Even the twins?”
A brief silence.
“Yes.”
The answer came too fast and too clean.It should have ended there. But Lila wasn’t good at ignoring what people avoided. “And Sophie?” she asked.
A flicker so small most people would miss it passed through his expression.
“Yes,” he repeated.
Something about the way he said it made Lila’s chest tighten slightly. Like he wasn’t giving instructions, he was repeating something he had already lost once.
Dhe shifted her weight. “Do they know that rule?”
“They don’t need to.”
“That’s not how children work.”
“They are not your concern.”
There it was again.
That line.
Not your concern.
Not relevant.
Not necessary.
Lila exhaled slowly. “You really don’t like attachments, do you?”
Then Damian said, “Attachments are liabilities.”
The words were simple, but the way he said them wasn’t.
It wasn’t arrogance, It was experience. Lila studied him for a moment longer than she should have. Then nodded. “Understood.”
He seemed satisfied with that, he reached into the drawer and placed a single key on the desk. “You will have access to your wing, the kitchen, and common areas. Security will be informed of your status.”
“My status,” she repeated.
“Yes.”
“Which is fake wife?”
A brief pause.
“Yes.” She almost smiled at that.
Then something shifted in the house, a distant sound, light footsteps, too quick to be staff.
Milo and Mia reappeared at the door like they had never left. “We forgot something,” Milo announced.Damian didn’t look at them. “Go to bed.”
“We can’t,” Mia said.
“Why.” Damian asked
“We need to check something,” Milo added.
Lila folded her arms. “Check what?” Both twins looked at her. Then at Damian. Then back at her. In perfect sync, they said:
“You two are going to fall in love.”
The air in the room changed immediately.
Damian’s expression hardened not with anger, but something sharper.
Control tightening. “That is not happening,” he said flatly.
Milo tilted his head. “Why not?”
“Because it is not part of the arrangement.”
Mia frowned. “Everything you like is not part of the arrangement.” That landed, even Lila felt it. Damian didn’t respond immediately. Which was rare enough to feel significant.
Finally, he said, “Leave.”
The twins didn’t move Instead, Milo walked forward and placed something on the desk. A drawing. Messy. Colorful. Clearly drawn in haste.
It showed a stick figure man, a stick figure woman, and two very identifiable twins in between them holding hands. Above it, in uneven handwriting "OUR FAMILY"
Lila stared at it, something softened in her chest despite herself. Damian looked at it for exactly two seconds.
Then closed the drawer over it.
“Bed,” he repeated.
This time, they obeyed.
But as they left, Mia glanced back at Lila and whispered loudly enough to be heard:
“She’s already staying.”
And then they were gone.
---
The study felt colder after they left.
Damian didn’t speak for a moment, Neither did Lila.
Finally, she broke the silence.
“They’re attached already.” “They are children,” he said. “That doesn’t stop attachment. It speeds it up.”
“You are overanalyzing.”
“Or I’m noticing reality,” she replied.
That earned her a look.Not anger, assessment again, like he was recalculating her usefulness. “You are not here to analyze anything,” he said.
“And you are not here to pretend I don’t exist outside your rules,” she replied quietly.
Silence stretched.
For the first time, Damian looked slightly less certain, not about her presence.
about her predictability. that small crack barely visible was enough for Lila to notice something important, he was used to obedience, not conversation, not resistance.
And definitely not someone who looked directly at the structure he built and questioned it.
Finally, he spoke.
“You will adapt.”
It wasn’t a request.
It was expectation.
Lila nodded once.
“I usually do.” Lila replied
That seemed to end the meeting.
Damian turned slightly, signaling dismissal without saying it.
But as Lila reached the door, she paused.
“One thing,” she said.
He didn’t look at her. “Speak.”
She hesitated.
Then asked anyway.
“Do you always treat people like temporary arrangements?”
Then, without turning. Lila left the room before he could say anything else.
---
Back in her assigned wing, Lila stood in the middle of the silent room. She set the contract on the desk. 100,000 dollars. Three months. Fake wife.
She should have felt relief.
Instead, she thought about the twins.
About the drawing.
About the way they looked at Damian like he was something unfinished.
And about the way Damian looked at everything else like it was already lost.
Outside her window, the mansion lights stayed on.
Far below, on the east side of the property, a figure stood near the garden gates, watching the house, She leaned closer.
The person wore dark clothing and a cap pulled low.
Then, as if sensing her eyes on them, they stepped backward into the shadows and disappeared.
A chill moved through her.
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