Chapter 36: Victoria’s Invitation

For a moment, the world stopped.

Victoria’s face filled the surveillance screen — elegant, composed, terrifying in her calmness. Her fingers dangled Lena’s mother’s necklace like bait. Like a threat.

Her red lips curled as she silently mouthed:

“Come out, little girl.”

Lena stepped back, trembling so violently Mrs. Ward grabbed her arm to steady her.

Alexander’s fury was immediate and explosive.

He slammed his fist against the wall so hard one of the screens flickered. “She crossed a line. A line she cannot come back from.”

Mrs. Ward’s voice trembled. “Alexander, no. She’s not alone. This is a trap.”

“I don’t care,” he snarled.

Lena found her voice, small and shaking. “Alex… she’s here for me.”

He turned instantly, gripping Lena’s shoulders. “No. She’s here because she thinks you’re weak. Because she thinks she can frighten you into submission.”

“She already did,” Lena admitted, tears forming. “She broke into my home… your home… and now she’s here. What does she want from me?”

Alexander’s expression softened for half a heartbeat… then hardened again.

“Answers,” he said. “She wants what she thinks your mother left behind.”

Mrs. Ward nodded grimly. “And she will rip this house apart to get it.”

The alarm still blared, piercing their ears. Alexander silenced it with a single command code. The estate fell into a suffocating quiet.

Lena’s heart thudded in the silence.

“What do we do?” she whispered.

Alexander took a deep breath — the kind of breath a man takes before walking into war.

“You’re going to the panic room,” he said. “Mrs. Ward will take you.”

“No,” Lena said instantly.

Alexander blinked. “What?”

Lena’s hands curled into fists. Fear shook every muscle in her body — but something else rose too. Anger. Resolve. The desire to finally stop running.

“I won’t hide again,” she said. “I’m tired of being dragged around like prey. I need to know the truth.”

Mrs. Ward shook her head violently. “Child, you don’t understand the danger. Victoria is not like Dylan. She will—”

“No more secrets!” Lena shouted, voice echoing. “No more half-truths. No more hiding who my mother was. I want answers. And she’s the only one who seems to know anything!”

Alexander stepped closer, his voice steel and desperation. “Lena. Look at me.”

She lifted her eyes.

His expression cracked open — fear flickering behind anger.

“I cannot lose you,” he whispered. “Do you understand? I cannot.”

Her breath trembled… but she didn’t back down.

“You won’t,” she whispered. “I’m not walking out there alone. I want you with me.”

Alexander froze.

Mrs. Ward gasped. “No. Absolutely not. You go out there with Victoria, she will manipulate you. She will twist everything. She will—”

But Lena turned to her sharply. “She’s already manipulating me from OUTSIDE. She’s been manipulating me since the moment she met me at the office.”

Mrs. Ward fell silent.

Lena continued, voice breaking, “I need to know why she has my mother’s necklace. I need to know why she was with my mother before she died.”

Alexander looked torn between admiration and fury. “Lena… this isn’t bravery. This is suicide.”

“It’s truth,” she said.

A beat of silence.

Then Alexander cursed under his breath — the kind of guttural, tortured sound she’d never heard from him.

“Fine,” he said. “You want answers?” He grabbed a weapon from the drawer — a small handheld device, not a gun. “You’ll get them. But you stay behind me. You don’t speak unless I tell you to. And if she steps too close, you run. Understood?”

Lena nodded.

Mrs. Ward grabbed Alexander’s arm. “Before you go—there’s something she needs to know. Something about Victoria.”

Alexander stiffened. “Mrs. Ward—”

But the older woman ignored him.

“Lena,” Mrs. Ward said, gripping her hands. “Victoria… she was in love with your mother.”

Lena’s breath left her lungs. “What?”

“Obsessed,” Mrs. Ward corrected. “Possessive. Your mother saw her as a friend, a confidant… but Victoria saw her as something else. Something she thought belonged to her.”

Alexander’s jaw clenched. “Enough, Mrs. Ward.”

“No,” Mrs. Ward said firmly. “The girl deserves to know what kind of monster she’s facing.”

Lena’s blood ran cold.

Mrs. Ward stepped closer.

“When your mother tried to leave the Circle — tried to expose them — Victoria wasn’t angry because of the betrayal. She was angry because your mother left her. And when your mother disappeared… Victoria was the last one to see her alive.”

A sharp chill ran through Lena’s entire body.

“She loved my mother?”

Mrs. Ward shook her head slowly.

“No. She wanted to own her.”

Alexander stepped between them, voice low and fierce. “That’s enough. We move now.”

Lena swallowed hard and nodded.

Alexander grabbed her hand.

They moved down the hallway, toward the foyer, toward the source of danger.

Toward Victoria.

Every step echoed.

Every breath felt like a countdown.

And when they reached the front door, Alexander stopped.

He turned to her, his voice soft but deadly serious.

“Lena… whatever she tells you, whatever she shows you — remember one thing.”

She looked at him.

Alexander cupped her face gently.

“Your mother died trying to protect you,” he whispered. “Not her. Not them. You.”

Lena’s lips parted.

Then the doorknob rattled.

Victoria’s voice drifted through, sing-song and calm:

“Alexander… my dear…

are you going to let me in?”