Lucas’s command rang like a gavel, a verdict on Mira’s actions. She trailed him in silence, ascending the stairs, her lips sealed, no longer pleading her case. Her eyes fixed on the steps, a bitter tug at her mouth as she mocked her own folly.
Lucas needed no guide. He wove through the grand hall with eerie familiarity, climbing toward the upper floors as if returning to his own home, not Mira’s unfamiliar villa. The realization sank into Mira like a stone: Lucas had never left Layla unprotected in the Rose Pack. After his last visit, he’d dispatched agents to probe the truth of Layla’s and Alice’s origins while others shadowed her, unseen guardians. Mira’s schemes—every calculated move—had unfolded under his watchful eye.
Her heart twisted, the weight of her missteps crushing.
As Lucas
