The Visitor
1273 Words
📖 Chapter 17: The Visitor
The sound of raised voices drew Lena out of her chair.
She’d been sitting at her writing desk late that morning, her journal open but blank. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to write anything yet. Not after last night, not after the contract he’d left on her desk like some kind of ultimatum dressed as an opportunity.
But then—voices.
Not Damon’s.
Not Michael’s.
Someone else.
And they were getting closer.
---
She opened her door just as a maid rushed past, her arms full of linens, her eyes wide.
“What’s going on?” Lena asked.
The girl glanced back but didn’t slow. “A visitor,” she whispered, almost conspiratorially. “For you, I think.”
Lena’s stomach sank.
For her?
That couldn’t be right.
No one even knew she was here.
---
But then she heard her name.
Not Lena.
Her full name.
Shouted down the corridor in a voice she hadn’t heard in months.
“Helena Hale!”
---
Her heart stopped.
No.
It couldn’t be.
And yet—
“Mia?”
She stepped into the hall just as her younger sister barreled around the corner, her leather jacket flapping open, her dark hair a wild, tangled mess from the wind outside.
Mia froze when she saw her, a crooked smile lighting up her face despite the clear storm brewing in her eyes.
“There you are,” Mia breathed, as if Lena were the one who had gone missing.
And before Lena could say anything, Mia closed the gap between them, throwing her arms around her neck in a hug so fierce it nearly knocked her off balance.
---
“Mia,” Lena managed, stunned. “What… how did you…?”
Mia pulled back just enough to look at her, her grin sharp now, laced with accusation.
“You didn’t think you could just disappear into some mansion and leave me stuck back home with nothing, did you?”
Lena blinked. “What are you talking about?”
“What am I talking about?” Mia scoffed, throwing her hands up. “You left me. You left me to deal with everything while you—” she gestured vaguely at the walls around them—“moved into this.”
Her voice cracked a little at the edges now, the anger not quite able to disguise the hurt beneath it.
---
Lena swallowed hard, glancing down the hall where two maids and a footman were trying very hard to pretend they weren’t listening.
“Come inside,” she said quietly, reaching for Mia’s arm.
But Mia jerked away.
“No. No, I want to see him. The guy who thinks he owns you now.”
“Mia—”
“Where is he, huh? Your boss? Your… whatever he is?”
---
The door at the far end of the corridor opened then, and Lena’s stomach sank even further.
Damon.
He stood there, perfectly composed as always, his hands in his pockets, his eyes sweeping over the scene in an instant.
Michael stood just behind him, his expression unreadable.
Damon’s gaze landed on Mia, then shifted to Lena.
And without raising his voice, he spoke one word.
“Inside.”
---
Mia bristled. “Excuse me?”
But Lena was already grabbing her by the elbow, dragging her back into the suite before she could make anything worse.
When the door shut behind them, Lena rounded on her.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded, keeping her voice low even though her hands were shaking.
Mia crossed her arms defiantly.
“I came to see my sister. Or was that not allowed? I didn’t get the memo about how you apparently belong to someone else now.”
Lena closed her eyes, pressing her fingers to her temples.
“I don’t belong to anyone, Mia. You shouldn’t have come.”
---
Mia snorted. “Oh, right. Because you’re so happy here.”
Lena froze at that, her chest tightening.
Mia tilted her head, studying her now, her sharp little sister instincts already zeroing in.
“You’re not happy,” Mia said softly, almost accusingly.
Lena swallowed but didn’t respond.
That was enough for Mia.
She flopped down on the edge of the bed, crossing her legs and letting her jacket slip off one shoulder.
“You know,” she said casually, “the landlord came by last week. Said if the rent’s not paid soon, they’re kicking me out. Did you even think about that when you left?”
Lena’s stomach twisted.
“I sent money,” she said weakly.
“Not enough,” Mia shot back.
Silence stretched between them.
And then Mia’s eyes softened just a fraction.
“You didn’t even say goodbye.”
---
Lena sat heavily in the chair by the window, burying her face in her hands.
“I didn’t think you’d understand,” she whispered.
Mia laughed bitterly.
“Of course not. Because you didn’t even try.”
---
The door opened then, and both of them looked up as Damon entered the suite.
Mia shot to her feet immediately, her chin high, her hands curling into fists at her sides.
But Damon didn’t so much as glance at her at first. His eyes went straight to Lena.
“Everything all right?” he asked smoothly.
Lena stood, her voice tight. “This is my sister. Mia.”
At that, Damon finally let his gaze shift to the younger woman. He looked her over once, slow and deliberate, before extending a hand.
“Mia,” he said evenly.
Mia ignored his hand.
“I don’t know what you did to her,” she said, her voice low and shaking, “but you don’t own her. You don’t get to keep her locked up here like some… some bird in a cage.”
Damon’s jaw tightened just slightly, but his tone stayed calm.
“And yet,” he said, his eyes meeting hers, “she’s still here.”
---
That stunned Mia just long enough for Lena to step between them.
“Mia, please,” she said quietly. “Just… stop. You don’t understand.”
But Mia’s eyes were already glittering with unshed tears.
“I don’t understand?” she whispered harshly. “You’re right. I don’t. I don’t understand why my big sister left me behind for this.”
She gestured wildly at the opulent suite.
Then she shoved past them both and stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
---
The silence that followed was deafening.
Lena stood frozen, staring at the closed door, her breath coming fast and shallow.
Damon’s voice came from behind her, quiet but firm.
“She can stay. As long as she needs to.”
Lena turned slowly, her eyes narrowing.
“This isn’t your decision.”
“No,” he agreed smoothly. “But you’ll let her stay anyway. Because you’re not ready to let her go either.”
---
And then he left, closing the door softly behind him.
---
That night, Lena sat on the edge of the bed, watching Mia sleep curled up in the corner, her jacket still wrapped around her like a shield.
She opened her journal and wrote carefully:
You keep saying I have a choice.
But now it’s not just my choice anymore.
She closed the book and lay back, staring at the ceiling, listening to Mia’s quiet breathing.
And for the first time since she arrived here, she wasn’t sure who she was trying to save—herself, or the people she left behind.
- Writer
