CHAPTER FIVE: Too Perfect to Be Real

The Knight Mansion hadn’t changed.

It was still massive, cold, and carved from old money. Every inch screamed power and luxury.  As the black SUV pulled into the private gates, Sera’s stomach twisted with memories.

This was the house she’d arrived at in a borrowed dress three years ago. And now, here she was again, still Mrs. Knight on paper. Only this time, she wasn’t alone.

Lily was at daycare, hidden from the world, but Sera knew it wouldn’t last.

Victor had assigned a team to maintain the illusion. Household staff sworn to silence, the rooms prepared. Their “marital suite” staged like it had been lived in for years. A closet full of clothes in her size. Framed pictures of a life that never existed.

Elias stepped out of the SUV behind her, slower, careful not to aggravate his healing ribs. The bruises were fading, but he still moved like a man carrying invisible weight.

He paused at the base of the grand staircase, eyes sweeping over the mansion like it was a stranger.

“I don’t recognize any of this,” he muttered.

“You lived here,” Sera said.

His gaze flicked to hers. “With you?”

“Yes.”

A lie. She’d never spent a full night here. Their wedding was over before the ink dried. But now, she had no choice but to sell the story they’d written for her.

The butler, Harold, greeted them stiffly and led them through the long halls to the suite Victor had assigned them. Double doors opened to reveal a sprawling bedroom with a balcony, fireplace, and a four-poster bed that looked untouched.

Too untouched.

Elias wandered to the fireplace mantle where a photo of them smiled back, taken by Victor’s media team the night of their wedding. They were smiling, but she remembered the tension behind it. The ache in her feet. The taste of champagne she couldn’t afford.

He picked it up slowly.

“You look happy,” he said.

She said nothing.

“I look… hollow.”

She still said nothing.

“Why would I agree to marry someone I didn’t love?” he asked softly, almost to himself.

She stepped past him toward the closet. “Maybe because you didn’t believe in love.”

He glanced over his shoulder. “Do I believe in it now?”

“You tell me.”

Silence.

She opened the closet and found rows of clothes. His on the left. Hers on the right. Everything perfectly organized. Like they’d lived together for years, like this wasn’t an elaborate cover-up.

She touched the edge of a silk blouse. She didn’t remember ever owning something this expensive. It made her skin crawl.

“This is fake,” Elias said behind her.

Her heart jolted.

“What?”

“This room, these clothes. The way everything’s placed just so.” He walked slowly past the bed, running his hand along the edge. “Someone staged this. This isn’t how two people live.”

Sera turned. “What are you talking about?”

“I build environments,” he said absently. “That much I do remember. Human behavior. Spaces. The way people move and exist. This?” He nodded toward the framed wedding photo again. “It’s too perfect. Too balanced. Nothing personal, no clutter, no fingerprints.”

Sera’s mouth went dry. He stepped closer, not threatening. Just curious. Too curious.

“Did we really live here, Sera?” he asked.

She tried to speak, but her throat locked.

He watched her carefully. “Did I really love you? Did you really love me?”

She looked away.

He tilted his head. “Why do I feel like I’m asking the wrong questions?”

Sera opened her mouth to redirect, to say you need rest, or we should unpack. But before she could, a sharp knock echoed from the doors behind them.

Victor walked in without waiting.

“I see you’ve settled in,” he said briskly.

“We’re not settled,” Elias muttered. “We’re confused.”

Victor didn’t look at him. His gaze was on Sera.

“We need to discuss security,” he said. “We’ve increased staff around the estate. If Sera needs to leave the house, she takes a car with a driver. No unscheduled movements and no media. Everything gets cleared through me.”

Sera’s pulse jumped. “What about Lily’s daycare?”

Victor’s eyes sharpened. “I’ll handle that. Quietly.”

Elias looked between them. “Who’s Lily?”

Sera’s heart stopped.

“She’s a family friend’s daughter,” Victor said smoothly. “Sera was helping out before the crash.”

Elias narrowed his eyes. “You said you don’t have a family.”

“I don’t,” Sera said quickly. “Lily’s not mine.”

She felt the lie burn her tongue.

Elias didn’t look convinced. “You’ve got this tight look around your mouth. Every time I ask something real, you go stiff.”

Victor stepped in. “You’re recovering. You don’t need to interrogate your wife. She’s done enough already.”

But Elias didn’t stop staring at her.

Eventually, he looked away.

Victor turned to her. “We’ll be hosting a welcome-back dinner here tomorrow night. A few board members. Press will be off-limits, but the rumors have already started. We need to show the world you’re alive and united.”

Sera’s breath caught. “You want me to stand in front of a crowd and lie again?”

Victor’s smile was thin. “It’s not lying, it’s acting and you’ve proven to be quite talented.”

When he left, Elias collapsed into the nearest chair, his body taut with exhaustion.

But his mind… it was wide awake.

“You hesitated,” he said after a moment.

She looked up.

“Back there,” he added. “When I asked about Lily.”

Sera tried to steady her voice. “It’s been a long day.” she said, trying to change the subject.

“She’s important to you.”

“Yes.”

“You lit up for a second,” he said. “Then you shut down, like…..like you were afraid.”

“I’m not afraid.”

“You should be,” Elias said quietly. “Because if you keep lying to me… I’ll find out anyway.”

Sera’s throat tightened.

“You don’t remember who you are,” she whispered.

“But I know what I feel,” he said. “And right now? I feel like I’m being lied to by the only person I’m supposed to trust.”

Elias rose from his seat and walked toward Sera, each step deliberate and slow. When he reached her, he leaned in close and whispered,

"Tell me the truth, Sera. Who is Lily?"