📖 CHAPTER 5 – The Dinner Game
491 Words
The car ride stayed quiet.
Not peaceful quiet… the uncomfortable kind that sits on your chest and refuses to leave.
Lila stared out the window the entire time, pretending she wasn’t aware of him beside her. But she was.
Damian didn’t even look her way. Phone in hand. Calm as always. Like nothing in the world could disturb him.
That alone irritated her.
“So,” she said suddenly, breaking the silence. “What exactly is this dinner for?”
His eyes stayed on his phone. “Business.”
“That’s it?”
“And appearances.”
Lila let out a small laugh, shaking her head. “So I’m just part of your image.”
That made him look up.
Slowly.
His gaze landed on her like he was measuring her reaction before answering.
“You’re my wife tonight,” he said. “Call it whatever you want.”
“Wow,” she muttered, turning back to the window. “So romantic.”
“I wasn’t trying to be.”
Of course not.
That was the problem.
The restaurant was too fancy.
The kind of place where even the air felt expensive.
The moment they walked in, conversations shifted. Eyes followed. Whispering started.
Lila felt it immediately and hated it.
Damian, on the other hand, looked like he belonged there.
Like he always did.
His hand found her waist.
Not gentle. Not romantic.
Just… placed there. Like a reminder.
She stiffened slightly.
“Relax,” he said under his breath. “Just walk with me.”
“I don’t do well with instructions,” she whispered back.
A pause.
Then his voice came quieter.
“I noticed.”
That got to her more than it should have.
Inside the private room, everything was polished glass table, soft lighting, fake smiles.
People stood as soon as they entered.
“Mr. Cole,” one of the men greeted. “You didn’t mention you’d be bringing your wife.”
Damian didn’t even hesitate.
“She wanted to come.”
Lila turned her head slightly toward him.
Excuse me?
But before she could correct him, another voice cut in.
A woman.
Confident. Calm. Too familiar.
“I didn’t know you were married,” she said, eyes moving from Damian to Lila.
There was something in her tone. Not curiosity.
History.
Lila felt it instantly.
Damian felt it too but his face didn’t change.
“It happened,” he said simply.
That was all.
The woman smiled faintly, like she didn’t like that answer but accepted it anyway.
Then her gaze landed fully on Lila.
“And you are?”
Silence.
Everyone waited.
Lila felt Damian’s hand press slightly at her waist. A warning. A signal.
So she smiled.
Not big. Not polite.
Just enough.
“I’m his wife.”
That smile on the woman’s face cracked a little.
Just for a second.
But Lila saw it.
And she knew
This wasn’t over.
Not even close.
- Writer
