Chapter 4
1417 Words
Lila did not sleep.
She lay in a bed large enough for three people and stared at the ceiling while the image of the figure outside replayed in her mind again and again.
Someone had been standing near the east gate.Watching the house, not wandering, not lost.
Several times, she almost got up and called security. Several times, she stopped herself. She had been in the mansion less than a day. Accusing strangers in the dark might be a fast way to prove Damian right about her being “unnecessary trouble.”
Still, unease settled under her skin and refused to leave.
By morning, exhaustion had replaced sleep. She dressed simply and stepped into the hallway just after six. The mansion was quiet in the strange way expensive houses often were never truly asleep, but never fully alive either.
As she made her way downstairs, the smell of coffee reached her first, then voices, children’s voices it sounded suspiciously like a kitchen disaster.
Lila entered the kitchen and stopped.
Milo stood on a stool with flour in his hair. Mia held a cracked egg in one hand and looked offended by it. Batter covered part of the marble counter.
And Damian Vale stood in the center of the chaos, wearing a dark shirt with the sleeves rolled to his forearms, watching the destruction like a man trapped in a foreign country.
For one ridiculous second, Lila forgot to breathe. He looked less polished this morning. Less distant. More handsome.
“What is happening here?” she asked.
“Breakfast,” Milo announced proudly.
“Attempted breakfast,” Mia corrected.
Damian glanced at Lila. “They insisted.”
“You let them cook?”
“I did not participate.”
“That is not the same thing as supervising.”
“It seemed educational.”
Milo held up a bowl filled with a lumpy gray mixture.
“We made pancakes.”
Lila stared at it. “No. You made a threat.” Mia laughed, even Damian’s mouth almost moved.
Lila crossed the room and rolled up her sleeves. “Move over.” The twins scrambled aside immediately, she reached for the bowl and looked at Damian.
“Have you ever made breakfast?”
“No.”
“Have you ever tried?”
“No.”
“Have you ever failed at making breakfast?”
“No.”
“That is because you have never attempted anything human before.”
Mia gasped. “She insulted you.” Damian’s expression remained unreadable. Lila mixed a new batch quickly while the twins watched with full admiration. A cook stood near the doorway trying not to smile. Within fifteen minutes, pancakes were stacked on plates. Milo took the first bite and nearly slid off the stool in delight.
“This is amazing.” Mia nodded with serious approval. “You can stay forever.”
Lila glanced at Damian. “Your board approval process is unusual.”
“They are not on the board.”
“They clearly run the house.”
That time, she was certain she saw the corner of his mouth lift.
Before she could enjoy the victory, heels clicked sharply against the marble floor outside the kitchen.The room changed, Staff straightened, the cook stepped back. Even the twins went quiet. Damian’s shoulders hardened.
A woman entered as though she owned the building, she was elegant, poised, dressed in cream silk and diamonds too expensive to mention. Her beauty was polished into something sharp.
Her eyes landed on Damian first, then on Lila, then on the children. “Damian,” she said smoothly. “No one told me we had guests.”
The word guests sounded like an insult.
“Vivian,” he replied.
So this was her Lila had heard the name from staff whispers already.
Vivian Vale.Stepmother. Social strategist. Family problem.
Vivian’s gaze settled on Lila with cool precision. “And who might you be?” Before Damian answered, Milo did.
“She’s our mom.” Lila nearly dropped a plate. Mia nodded helpfully. “Temporary mom. But we’re fixing that.”
Vivian’s smile remained in place, but something cold flashed behind it. “How charming.”
Damian set down his coffee. “She is my wife.” The kitchen fell silent, even Lila stared at him. He had said it smoothly, cleanly, as if it were fact.
Vivian looked from one face to the other. “You married without informing the family?” Vivian asked him looking confused.
“I informed the people whose opinions mattered.” Damian replied as he walks closer to her.
Milo choked on pancake, Lila coughed into her hand to hide a laugh.
Vivian did neither, She walked closer, stopping directly in front of Lila. “Congratulations,” she said softly. “I do hope you understand the kind of house you’ve entered.”
“I’m beginning to,” Lila replied.
Vivian’s smile thinned. “Then you know some doors are better left closed.” Her eyes flicked briefly toward Damian’s study wing. Then she turned away as though she had said nothing at all. Interesting. Very interesting.
She kissed the air beside Damian’s cheek.
“We’ll speak later.”
“We won’t,” he said.
She ignored that and glided out.
The room stayed quiet after she left. Mia spoke first. “She smells expensive.” Milo nodded. “And mean.”
Lila looked at Damian. “Please tell me that was not normal.”
“It was Tuesday behavior.”
“It’s Friday.”
“Then she is early.”
The twins laughed.
Lila did not.
She set down the spatula and lowered her voice.
“She mentioned closed doors.”
Damian’s expression cooled immediately.
“Did she?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Oh ok that was not for you.” he replied
“There’s that phrase again.”
He met her gaze. “Some things in this house remain private for a reason.”
“And some things become dangerous because no one talks about them.”
Neither moved.
Neither looked away.
Then the sound of breaking glass shattered the moment.
A maid gasped from the hallway.
Everyone turned.
One of the footmen stood pale beside a shattered vase near the entrance table. Something white had fallen from inside the arrangement and scattered across the floor, Letters, Dozens of folded envelopes. Damian crossed the room instantly. The footman stammered apologies, but Damian was already kneeling to gather the papers.
One envelope had split open, Lila only saw a glimpse, a photograph and a little girl, with a written across the back in black ink: She was never yours.
Damian’s face changed, Not anger, something far worse. For the first time since she met him, he looked shaken.
He gathered everything and stood. “No one touches these,” he said quietly.
The staff scattered, the twins stared in confusion, Lila watched him carefully. Whoever had stood at the gate last night had not come by accident. And whoever sent those letters knew exactly where to strike.
Damian turned toward the study without another word. Halfway there, he stopped. Without looking back, he said, “Lila.”
“Yes?” Lila answered immediately.
“Do not leave the house today.”
The warning in his voice made her blood run cold, then he walked away carrying the letters.
Lila stood motionless in the kitchen.
Outside, beyond the tall windows, the east gate slowly swung open by itself.
- Writer
