The silver serpent stayed beneath my pillow, a cold secret that tasted like rebellion. It was the only thing in this house that Roman hadn't bought for me, even if I had technically "borrowed" it from his own vanity. Every morning, I woke up and ran my thumb along the dull edge of the letter opener, reminding myself that while he owned my schedule, my clothes, and my father’s legacy, he didn't own the rhythm of my heart.
A week had passed since the Commission meeting. The estate had settled into a tense, vibrating normalcy. Roman was gone most days, submerged in the bloody aftermath of the Cabo operation and the frantic search for the missing forty million. I was left to the mercy of the library and the silent, watchful eyes of the guards who followed me like shadows.
I spent my hours hu
