CHAPTER 3: The Dinner
891 Words
Ava stood in front of the mirror longer than she needed to.
Not because she cared about perfection.
But because she was trying to understand how her life had been reduced to something she didn’t recognize anymore.A contract.
The hallway felt colder than before or maybe she was just becoming more aware of how empty everything sounded in this house.Even her footsteps seemed wrong here, too human for a place built like glass and silence.
By the time she reached the dining room, she already felt watched.Not by eyes but by presence.
Damien Lugard sat at the head of the long dining table like he had been carved into it.
Perfect posture. Calm expression. Hands resting near the table, not touching anything unnecessary.Control in human form.
He didn’t look up immediately."Sit,” he said.
One word,No greeting,No softness, Just instruction.
Ava walked to the seat opposite him and sat down slowly.
The distance between them felt intentional like even closeness had been negotiated and denied.Servants placed food on the table quietly and disappeared without a sound.
Ava glanced at the food. Everything was arranged with precision too perfect to feel comforting.
Damien finally spoke."You adjusted to the room.”
It wasn’t a question.
Ava raised a brow slightly. “It’s a room. Not a battlefield.”
“Good,” he said simply.
Ava stared at him for a second longer than necessary.
“You talk like everything is either done correctly or irrelevant,” she said.
Damien picked up his fork. “That’s because it usually is.”
Ava let out a quiet breath. “That must be exhausting.”
His hand paused briefly mid-air.Just for a second.
Then he continued eating like she hadn’t said anything at all but Ava noticed.
Minutes passed.The sound of cutlery was the only interruption in the silence and Ava couldn’t take it anymore."So,” she said, placing her fork down, “is this how it’s going to be? Silent dinners, structured conversations, and instructions instead of actual communication?”
Damien didn’t look up."Yes.”
Ava blinked. “You didn’t even hesitate.”
“I don’t see the need to pretend otherwise.”That hit differently.
Just honest in a way that didn’t leave room for comfort.
Ava leaned back slightly. “So I’m just… part of your system now?”
Damien finally looked at her.
His eyes were sharp; focused like he was always calculating something she couldn’t see.
“You are part of an arrangement,” he corrected.
Ava scoffed softly. “That sounds worse every time you say it.”
“Because you keep expecting emotional language for a transactional situation.”
Ava tilted her head. “Is that what I am to you? Transactional?
“Yes.”The word landed harder than she expected.
Because it wasn’t said with anger.
It was said like fact.Like gravity.
Ava looked down at her plate, suddenly not hungry.
“Then why bother calling me to dinner at all?” she asked quietly.
Damien placed his fork down.
The sound echoed slightly in the room.
“Because appearances matter.”
Ava looked up sharply. “So I’m a performance too?”
His gaze didn’t shift.
“In public,” he said. “You are my wife. In private, you are not involved in my affairs.”That sentence hung there.
Ava stood slowly.
Damien’s eyes followed her movement instantly.
“You’re leaving early?” he asked.
“I’m done pretending this is normal,” she said.
But as she turned to leave, he spoke again.
“Don’t misunderstand something.”
Ava paused.Didn’t turn.
His voice lowered slightly.
“This arrangement protects you.”That made her turn back.
“Protects me from what exactly?” she asked.
Damien didn’t answer immediately.
The silence stretched longer than before.Then he said, “From exposure.”
Ava frowned. “Exposure to what?”
He stood slowly.That alone made Ava’s stomach tighten slightly.
Damien didn’t stand unless he intended to end something.
Or begin something.He walked around the table slowly, stopping just a few steps away from her.
Too close for conversation.Not close enough for comfort.
His voice dropped lower."You ask too many questions.”
Ava didn’t move back.
“You avoid too many answers.”
“You don’t understand the world you’ve entered,” he said.
Ava frowned. “Then explain it.”
He looked at her for a long moment.
“I chose you,” he said.
“You don’t even know me,” she said.
His eyes didn’t move.“I know enough.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It is the only one that matters.”
Ava’s heart beat slightly faster now not fear exactly, but something between confusion and irritation.
“Why me?” she asked again, sharper this time.
Damien’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly like he was choosing between truths.
“Because you were the safest variable.”
Ava frowned deeply. “Safest for what?”
But he had already turned slightly away.
The conversation was ending.She could feel it.
Damien turned away completely this time walking toward the hallway.
Ending the conversation without permission.
Ava stood alone in the dining room looking at the empty hallway as he disappeared.
She wasn’t just a wife in a contract.She was something he had chosen and Damien Lugard didn’t choose anything without reason.
- Writer
