love in the shadow

Love in the shadow -_-_ Episode 2

📖 Love in the Shadows

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Episode 2 – The Dance of Lies

The ribbon never left Aria’s pocket. She clutched it in secret, a talisman of hope, even as whispers spread through Ravenbrooke about the night in the forest.

By morning, the villagers spoke of nothing else.

“They say Aria Vale walks with shadows.”

“Maybe she’ll vanish next, like her sister.”

But Aria had no time for their poison. The laugh she heard — faint, haunting — echoed in her mind like a song. Lila was alive. She had to be.

That evening, carriages rolled through the cobblestoned streets toward the grand hall of the Ravenbrooke estate. The masquerade ball, held once a year, shimmered with music, lanterns, and secrets hidden behind masks.

Aria almost refused to attend. What was the point of dancing when her sister’s ghost trailed her every step?

But Elias had insisted. “If Lila was taken by people, not shadows,” he said, “this ball is where secrets will slip. You need to listen.”

So Aria went.

Her gown was simple compared to the jeweled silks of the other women, yet she carried herself with a quiet grace that drew eyes as she entered the glittering hall. Behind her half-mask, her hazel eyes scanned the crowd — searching, always searching.

Music swelled. Laughter filled the air. But beneath it, whispers crawled.

And then… her gaze locked on him.

Dorian Blackwell.

Mask of black velvet, sharp jaw lit by candlelight. He leaned against a pillar, watching the dancers with that unreadable darkness. His presence devoured the room even in stillness.

Her breath faltered.

Elias was at her side instantly, offering his arm. “Ignore him,” he whispered. “He doesn’t belong here. Not with you.”

But Aria’s heart betrayed her, beating faster as Dorian’s eyes found hers across the crowd. He inclined his head, the smallest gesture, yet it felt like a command.

The music shifted. Partners spun across the floor. Elias led her into the dance, his touch warm, familiar, safe. But with every turn, every brush of his hand, Aria’s eyes flicked back to Dorian — the shadow in the corner who never looked away.

Then, it happened.

For just a heartbeat, in the mirror-lined walls of the ballroom, Aria saw something impossible.

Not her reflection.

Not Elias’s.

But Lila.

Her sister’s face — pale, smiling faintly behind a silver mask.

Aria gasped, stumbling in the dance. Elias steadied her, alarm in his eyes.

“Aria? What is it?”

But when she looked again, Lila was gone. Only her own reflection stared back.

Tears pricked her eyes. Her chest ached with a grief that burned fresh all over again. She wanted to scream, to shatter the mirrors until truth spilled out.

Instead, she whispered, “She was here.”

Elias frowned. “Aria, please—”

But before he could finish, Dorian stepped forward from the shadows. The crowd parted almost instinctively, like water around a stone. His gaze burned into hers as he extended his hand.

“Dance with me.”

Gasps rippled through the hall. The dark man of Ravenbrooke, asking the girl haunted by her sister’s disappearance.

Elias stiffened. “She doesn’t—”

But Aria’s trembling fingers reached out before her mind caught up. The ribbon in her pocket burned against her skin. If Dorian knew something, if he was tied to Lila, she had to know.

Their hands touched.

The music swelled.

And in that moment, suspicion twisted into something else entirely. His hand was firm at her waist, his movements sharp but sure, pulling her through the dance as if the world itself had narrowed to the two of them.

“Why are you doing this?” she whispered, breathless.

His dark eyes burned into hers. “Because you won’t stop searching. And the truth will destroy you.”

Her chest tightened. “Then tell me where she is!”

For a heartbeat, his mask slipped — sorrow flashing in his eyes so raw it felt like a blade against her heart.

But he said nothing.

Elias watched from the edge of the floor, fists clenched, pain carved into his face. Selene Blackwell, Dorian’s cousin, leaned close to him, her lips curling in a smile. “She’ll choose him,” she whispered into Elias’s ear. “She’ll choose darkness over you.”

Elias turned away, but his eyes shone with unshed tears.

The dance ended. Dorian released her, his hand lingering a second too long. The hall erupted into murmurs, suspicion thick in the air.

And then… another shock.

Pinned to the back of Aria’s gown, where no one could have placed it without her noticing — a note.

Her trembling hands unfolded it. Words, scrawled in ink she recognized instantly.

“Do not trust the one who holds you.

The truth hides in shadows.

—Lila”

The paper slipped from her fingers.

Her vision blurred with tears. The hall spun, filled with suspicion, lies, and the sting of betrayal.

Was it Dorian?

Was it Elias?

Or… was Lila alive, warning her from somewhere close?

Her heart cracked open.

And she began to cry — silent, desperate tears that streaked her cheeks behind her mask.

The shadows seemed to whisper with the crowd:

Who do you love, Aria? Who will break you?

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✨ End of Episode 2

Suspicion: The mirror reflection, Lila’s note, Dorian’s warnings.

Romance: Aria torn between Elias’s safe love and Dorian’s dangerous pull.

Cry: She breaks at the note, not knowing whom to trust.

Wisdom: Even love can blind you when truth hides behind masks.