Chapter 89: The First Dinner

Dinner was scheduled for eight.

Not announced. Not requested. Simply entered into the household calendar with the same neutrality as a board meeting or a security briefing.

Lillian arrived two minutes early.

She wore a simple gray dress with long sleeves and clean lines. Nothing ornamental. Nothing submissive. Her hair was pinned back, precise and controlled, deliberately unremarkable. She looked as she always did: composed, contained, quietly easy to underestimate.

The dining room was vast and