📖 CHAPTER 4 – Playing the Role
474 Words
Lila was halfway through unpacking when a knock came at her door.
She paused, frowning.
“Who is it?”
“The driver, ma’am,” a voice replied from outside. “Mr. Cole said you should be ready in thirty minutes.”
Her brows furrowed. “Ready for what?”
“A dinner event.”
Lila froze.
A dinner… already?
She opened the door. “Tell him I’m not going.”
The driver hesitated. “Ma’am, he said it’s important.”
“Then he can go alone,” she replied, about to close the door.
“Unfortunately, you can’t.”
That voice.
Low. Calm. Annoyingly controlled.
Lila turned slowly.
Damian stood at the end of the hallway, already dressed in a dark suit, looking like he belonged on the cover of a business magazine.
She folded her arms. “And why exactly can’t I?”
He walked closer, his steps steady. “Because tonight, you’re not just yourself.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And what am I supposed to be?”
“My wife.”
The word felt strange in the air.
Lila let out a small laugh. “Right. The fake one.”
“Fake or not,” Damian said, stopping in front of her, “people are watching.”
She stared at him for a moment.
“And if I refuse?”
His eyes didn’t soften. “You won’t.”
There it was again.
That confidence.
That control.
Lila tilted her head slightly. “You really like deciding things for me, don’t you?”
“I like things done properly.”
She stepped closer, closing the distance between them. “Then you should have married someone obedient.”
For a second… something flickered in his eyes.
But it disappeared just as quickly.
“I didn’t marry for obedience,” he said quietly.
That response caught her off guard.
Before she could reply, he spoke again.
“There’s a dress in your room. Wear it.”
Lila scoffed. “You picked my clothes too?”
“Yes.”
She shook her head. “You’re unbelievable.”
Damian didn’t argue. He just turned slightly, already walking away.
“Thirty minutes,” he said.
Lila stood there for a while after he left.
Then slowly… she walked back into her room.
Her eyes landed on the dress lying neatly on the bed.
A soft, elegant gown.
Simple… but beautiful.
She hesitated.
Then sighed.
“Just for tonight,” she muttered.
Thirty minutes later…
When Lila stepped downstairs, the entire atmosphere changed.
Damian looked up.
And for the first time since they met…
He paused.
His eyes stayed on her longer than expected.
Lila noticed.
“What?” she asked, slightly defensive.
He adjusted his watch, looking away like nothing happened.
“Nothing,” he said.
But it wasn’t nothing.
And they both knew it.
- Writer
