Chapter Three: The Scream Behind The Walls

The scream cut through the mansion. For one horrifying second, nobody moved. Not me. Not the guards. Not even Silas. The violent sound echoed endlessly through the dark corridors before suddenly stopping, leaving behind a suffocating silence that made my skin crawl.

Silas’s entire body had gone rigid beside me. His jaw tightened so hard I thought his teeth would crack.

“Sir…” one of the guards said again frantically.

“I said handle it,” Silas snapped colds, his voice cutting sharp like a razor.

The man immediately disappeared upstairs. My heartbeat pounded violently against my ribs as I stared toward the upper floor, my throat tight. Every instinct inside me believe that something was wrong with this house. Deeply wrong.

“What was that?” I asked quietly, my voice shaking despite my best efforts to look calm.

Silas didn’t answer. His expression had already sealed itself shut again, like he wasn’t panicking few seconds ago. But I knew what I saw. Fear. Real fear. And somehow, that terrified me more than the scream itself.

“I asked you a question.”

His gaze shifted toward me slowly. “You don’t need to concern yourself with matters that do not involve you.”

A bitter laugh almost escaped me.

“Funny,” I murmured, squeezing my fingers together. “Because I seem to live here now.”

Something unreadable flashed across his face, but before he could respond, Evelyn appeared beside the study entrance, perfectly composed despite the chaos upstairs.

“Mrs. Vane,” she said gently, her voice a vacant mask. Sorry for the delay, I’ll take you to your room now.” I followed her.

I looked back toward the staircase. Part of me wanted to stay. Part of me wanted to demand answers about the chaos. But the dangerous, warning look in Silas’s eyes told me not to push further. Even if I was going to ask him at least not tonight. Without another word, I turned and followed Mrs. Evelyn out of the study.

The mansion felt colder now. Every hallway stretched endlessly beneath dim golden lights, the silence so heavy. My heels clicked softly against the marble floors as Evelyn led me through the East Wing.

“You must be exhausted,” she said politely, her posture straight enough to rival Aunt Marissa’s rigid discipline.

Exhausted wasn’t the word. My entire life had collapsed in just less than twenty-four hours.

“You’ve worked here long?” I asked carefully, attempting to observe her expression.

“Almost seventeen years.”

Seventeen years. That meant she knew things. Important things about the Vane empire. “Then you probably know why everyone in this house looks terrified.”

Evelyn’s expression remained perfectly neutral. “This is an old estate, Mrs. Vane. Old houses always carry noise.”

Noise. Right. Because screams that sounded like someone dying were apparently normal here.

“Really!” I almost laughed. Clearly, everyone in this house had mastered the art of lying with a straight face.

We stopped in front of large double doors. Evelyn pushed them open quietly, revealing a room that was massive. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the dark forest surrounding the estate. A fireplace crackled softly near the sitting area, throwing long shadows, and the canopy bed alone looked bigger than my entire bedroom back at Aunt Marissa’s penthouse. Everything was elegant, luxurious and cold.

On the center table sat several shopping bags already prepared in my size. Of course. Silas planned everything.

“Dinner will be served downstairs in one hour ma”, Evelyn informed me.

I blinked. “Downstairs?”

“Yes, Mrs. Vane.”

At least I wouldn’t be locked inside this room like some decorative prisoner. “That will be all,” I murmured. Evelyn gave a small nod before leaving.

The second the doors shut behind her, I exhaled shakily, my armor slipping. Silence swallowed the room. I walked toward the window slowly, staring out at the endless darkness beyond the estate gates as rain continued falling lightly against the glass. Somewhere inside this mansion, a woman had screamed in terror, and somehow everyone acted like it was normal. My gaze drifted toward the dark hallway outside, thinking of his rules. The West Wing. Even thinking about it made my stomach tighten. I should leave it alone at least for now.

A sudden vibration interrupted my thoughts. I reached into my bag and froze when I saw Lena’s name flashing across my screen. Relief hit me instantly.

Lena Brice was my childhood best friend, the only person who truly loved me for who I was, not for my last name. She was stubborn, bold, and fiercely protective.

I answered quickly, keeping my voice low. “Lena.”

“Oh my God, Vienne!” her voice exploded through the phone, loud and frantic. “Are you insane?! Your aunt’s engagement announcement is all over the media already!”

I shut my eyes. That fast?

“Please tell me you didn’t actually marry that psychopath.”

"I signed it," I breathed, sinking onto the edge of the bed.

Silence stretched over the line. Then… “You WHAT?”

“It wasn’t really a choice, Lena. Marissa treated me like an asset to clear the family debt. You know that right?”

“Since when do you let people decide your life for you?”

I almost laughed bitterly at that. Lena had always thought I was stronger than I actually was, always teaching me to be stubborn.

“You don’t understand…”

“No, you don’t understand,” she interrupted sharply. “People are terrified of Silas Vane for a reason. Nobody knows anything about him because people who get close to him disappear.”

A chill crawled straight down my spine. “Lena…” “How do you know all that?”

“I’m serious. My cousin worked for one of the Vane companies three years ago. One executive vanished after trying to leak internal information. I mean he Completely disappeared.”

My fingers tightened around the phone until my knuckles turned white. “What kind of information?”

“I don’t know. But Vienne…” Her voice softened slightly, thick with concern. “Something is wrong with that family.”

Before I could respond, a movement outside my bedroom door made me freeze.

Footsteps. Slow and heavy. Distinctly masculine. Not Evelyn’s, and not a servant’s. That obviously would be Silas.

My breath caught completely in my throat as the footsteps stopped directly outside my room. My pulse stumbled violently.

Every instinct inside me screamed to stay quiet and survive whatever mood Silas Vane had walked to my door with tonight.

“Hello…” Lena cut in.

I panicked, realizing Silas might hear her. "I have to go, Lena," I whispered hurriedly, and hung up the phone before she could say anything, sliding it frantically under the pillows.

The silence returned, suffocating and thick. Then—three soft, absolute knocks echoed against the door.

I stood up slowly, smoothing down my structured charcoal dress, forcing my face to become blank.

“Vienne,” Silas’s deep voice came from the other side. It was calm. But underneath the smooth facade, it carried a dangerous, low rasp. “Open the door.”

And for some reason… he sounded angry.