CHAPTER 4 The Waitress at Her Own Funeral

LILA’S POV

The uniform landed on my floor with a soft thud. I blinked at it for a second before I looked up.

Chloe stood in the doorway, hair already curled and sprayed into place.

“What’s this?” I asked.

She smiled. It didn’t reach her eyes. “Your outfit for my engagement party.”

I picked up the clothes. A black skirt, a white button-up shirt, and a cheap waist apron. 

“A waitress uniform,” I said quietly.

“Wow, we have a genius in the room,” she snorted. “Yes. You’ll be serving drinks. Try not to screw it up.”

“Great, thanks,” I said flatly. 

***

By the time the party started, the house didn’t feel like a house anymore. It felt like a showroom.

The living room had been transformed with fairy lights and white flowers everywhere, soft music playing from hidden speakers. I kept my head down, tray balanced carefully in my hands as I moved from group to group, offering drinks to guests who barely looked at me.

From across the room, I could see Jason and Chloe.

He stood in a dark suit, hair styled, smile bright. Chloe clung to his arm, wearing a silver dress that shimmered under the lights. She laughed at something he said, leaning into him like she’d always belonged there.

My chest ached.

That should have been my future. My fiancé. My life, my escape from this hell. 

What a stupid fantasy.

“Lila!”

Chloe’s voice cut through the buzz of conversation. I stiffened.

She stood near the drinks table, a circle of her friends around her like satellites. Their dresses were tight and sparkly, their perfume heavy in the air.

“Yes?” I forced a neutral tone, hugging the tray to my chest.

She wrinkled her nose. “Why are you just standing there? Go refill the champagne flutes. And tell the kitchen we’re running low on canapés.”

“Okay.” I turned to go, but one of her friends, a girl with too-blonde hair, giggled.

“Hey, Chlo,” she said, lowering her voice just enough that it wasn’t really quiet. “Is it true? About your cousin marrying Edward Cunningham?”

My steps faltered.

Chloe’s lips curled. “Of course,” she said, sounding pleased. “Who else would have her?”

The friend’s eyes widened. “Isn’t this like… his tenth wife?”

“Ninth, I think,” another girl chimed in, like they were discussing a celebrity’s divorce history and not my life.

Chloe let out a cold, musical laugh. “Whatever. He promised to get us the island development project after the wedding. It’s a win-win. She’s been living off our family all these years. It’s about time she made herself useful.”

The world tilted just a little.

Useful.

I swallowed and fixed my gaze on the empty glasses in my tray. If I opened my mouth now, I’d either scream or cry, and neither was allowed.

I slipped away.

I was on my way toward the back hallway when the air shifted.

It was subtle, but the room… changed. Voices dropped, then rose. Bodies angled toward the entrance hall. Like someone had flipped a switch.

I turned without meaning to.

He stood in the doorway, and suddenly the fairy lights, the music, the flowers… all of it looked cheap.

Adrian Shepard.

He wore a charcoal suit that fit like it had been tailored on his actual body. His dark hair was pushed back, his jaw clean-shaven now, but the same hard lines I’d seen in the hotel room were there. His gaze moved slowly across the crowd with bored detachment, like he’d seen a thousand parties like this and hated them all.

Jason’s parents moved first. Kline and his wife all but rushed him, their smiles too wide. Uncle Andrew and Aunt Maggie weren’t far behind.

I froze in the corner like a rabbit, fingers digging into the underside of my tray.

Please don’t see me.

Aunt Maggie’s voice was sugary. “We’re so honored you could make it, Mr. Shepard!” she said. “We’ve heard so much!” 

“Absolutely,” Uncle Andrew chimed in. “Chloe and Jason are thrilled. It means so much that you flew down for this!”

Adrian’s gaze skimmed over them, polite but distant. 

Then he glanced at Chloe. His eyes flicked from her dress to her face to the manicured hand latched onto Jason’s arm.

“Do you have a sister, by any chance?” he asked Uncle Andrew.

Everything in me went cold.

Chloe blinked. “Wh—” 

Aunt Maggie laughed too quickly. “No, no, Chloe is our only daughter. Our perfect little angel!”

There was a beat.

“Though we do have Lila,” Uncle Andrew added, tone turning carefully modest. “She’s… a girl we took in after her parents passed. We’ve raised her as our own, of course.”

Of course. 

Raised me as their own. Drugged me as their own. Sold me as their own.

“Lila’s helping out tonight,” Aunt Maggie added, turning to scan the room. “Lila! Come here, dear. Bring Mr. Shepard a drink.”

My feet felt glued to the floor. Every instinct screamed at me to run in the opposite direction, but my uncle’s eyes had already found me. 

I forced my legs to move.

Each step closer to Adrian made my heart pound harder. The tray trembled just enough that I had to concentrate to keep the glasses steady.

Don’t look at him. Don’t look at him.

I stopped a safe distance away and kept my gaze fixed on the tray. “Champagne?” I managed, my voice barely audible.

For a second, there was only silence. Then I felt it.

His eyes.

Cool, assessing, resting on me like a weight.

“Thank you,” he said. He took a flute from the tray. “Do we know each other?”

I shook my head quickly, still staring at the sparkling liquid. “No, sir,” I whispered.

A lie… but the truth was too dangerous. Behind him, Chloe’s parents chuckled awkwardly, filling the space.

“She’s not very bright,” Uncle Andrew said, and I felt my face burn. “Quite timid. Doesn’t talk much. But she’s already engaged to Edward, so she’ll be taken care of soon!”

I felt, rather than saw, the slight shift in Adrian’s posture.

“Edward Cunningham?” he repeated, voice colder now.

“Yes, yes,” Aunt Maggie said eagerly. “He’s been a wonderful friend and business partner to us. He’s successful, he’s charming… Lila’s getting the whole package. Such a blessing!” 

Adrian’s gaze flicked past me, toward the other side of the room where Edward stood surrounded by men in suits, his belly pressing against his vest, his laugh too loud.

“That fossil?” Adrian asked, almost to himself, but I heard it. 

And for the first time in days, I wanted to laugh out loud without caring who heard it. 

I didn’t, of course. 

“Let us introduce you,” Uncle Andrew said quickly, sensing an opportunity slipping. 

We followed dutifully as they practically tripped over themselves. 

“Edward!” Uncle Andrew exclaimed. “This is Adrian Shepard, Jason’s uncle.” 

Edward gave Adrian a once-over that should have withered anybody else, but only bored Adrian further. 

“Edward,” Uncle Andrew pressed. “I was thinking, once the island development starts, we can get Adrian’s—” 

“What development?” Edward snapped. 

Aunt Maggie seemed taken aback. 

“Eddie, the development we’ve been discussing for months!” she explained. 

“That deal is off, Maggie, you should know that,” he said calmly. 

“Why on earth—” 

Edward pointed at me. “I waited for her all night in 203, and she didn’t come. So. Deal’s off.” 

With that, he walked away, leaving my uncle and aunt’s faces drained of color.