Chapter 8. Oh, So That's It

“Thinking too much isn’t good for you. Look at you now. Instead of daydreaming, you should enjoy the facilities here.”

Lyra snapped out of her thoughts by the massive window of the fiftieth-floor penthouse. She didn’t turn, her gaze fixed on the glittering city lights below, scattered like unreachable diamonds.

“I prefer freedom to being here.”

Lyra turned around, folding her arms across her chest. The ivory silk nightgown she wore clung to the tense lines of her body, the crystal chandelier casting reflections over the sapphire necklace around her neck.

“Too dramatic, and ungrateful.”

“What? You think I like it here? On top of that, you’ve cut off my access to the outside world.”

Kenzo stepped closer. He had already removed his jacket, the collar of his expensive white shirt left open.

He held a glass of whiskey, ice clinking softly.

“I’m not a stupid girl. You didn’t save me from that bastard. You just moved me somewhere higher so you could watch me fall more clearly.”

Lyra pointed toward the elevator door secured by a strict biometric system. “Why was my phone confiscated? Why can’t I leave this place? This is excessive.”

“I told you last night. Your family home has become a war zone for reporters and Hans’s lackeys.”

Kenzo took a slow sip of his whiskey. His dark eyes locked onto Lyra’s without hesitation. “Here, you’re safe by being my most valuable property. I won’t let my assets be damaged by media recklessness.”

“Property? So that’s what I am now?” Lyra let out a short, hollow laugh. “You forced me to sign a contract. Then you forbid me from seeing anyone, even cutting me off from my own father.”

“It’s for your own good, Lyra. Hans isn’t really gone.”

Kenzo set his whiskey glass down on the marble table and stepped an inch closer. The scent of expensive cologne and alcohol flooded Lyra’s senses.

“Hans is broke. You destroyed him yourself. What are you still afraid of? A man who can’t even pay his own rent?”

“A man with nothing left is the most dangerous kind. He knows every corner of your father’s house. He knows your escape routes.”

Kenzo lifted his hand and touched Lyra’s chin, his fingertips cold and commanding.

“I won’t let him touch a single strand of your hair before I finish my business with your family.”

Lyra slapped his hand away. “Business with my family? What do you mean?”

“You think I’m giving you this protection for free because I fell in love at first sight?” Kenzo chuckled low, the sound vibrating through the quiet room.

“Your father, Damian Cullen, owes me a great deal. Not just money, but the position of that company you’re so proud of.”

“My father never told me anything about that. You’re lying.”

“Damian is very good at hiding skeletons under his luxurious carpet. That’s why he agreed to hand you over to me so quickly.”

Lyra felt her heart pound faster, remembering her father’s gaze at the party last night. There had been no sadness in his eyes when he watched his daughter being taken away by Kenzo. Only a flash of satisfaction and a sickening sense of relief.

“So I’m nothing more than collateral for my father’s debt?”

“More like the best insurance policy I’ve ever acquired, Lyra.”

Kenzo turned and walked toward his glass-walled office. “Use your time to rest. Don’t try to hack the smart home system. You won’t like it when the alarm goes off.”

The glass door slid shut with a soft hydraulic hiss. Lyra stood frozen in the vast room, feeling small, like a doll that had just been moved to a different display case.

She walked toward the large leather sofa. Her eyes fell on an electronic device resting on a small desk in the corner, one of Kenzo’s backup laptops. He must have carelessly left it there in his rush to enter his main office.

Lyra glanced toward the office door. The light was still on behind the dark glass. She moved slowly, her bare feet silent against the thick carpet.

She sat in the chair and opened the laptop. The screen lit up immediately. No password was required. It seemed Kenzo had just used it and forgotten to lock the session.

“Come on, show me what you’re really hiding, Mr. Alberto.”

Lyra’s fingers moved quickly across the trackpad, opening folders of personal documents, her eyes scanning for her family name. Cullen.

She found an encrypted folder titled Project Blue Emerald. Lyra frowned. That was the name of her late mother’s ambitious project that had failed ten years ago, a project that should have been long dead and buried.

She clicked it open. Inside were hundreds of scanned documents, suspicious-looking financial reports, and photos of her father in secret meetings with several bank officials.

And there, among the pile of digital files, Lyra found a photo folder. Its name was short. Elena.

Lyra’s heart seemed to stop when she opened it. The laptop screen filled with photos of a woman with dark blonde hair, the same as hers. The woman had the same eyes.

“What is this?” she muttered, narrowing her eyes, making sure nothing escaped her notice.

Even the way the woman smiled at the camera felt eerily familiar to Lyra. She wore a sapphire necklace, the same one now resting around Lyra’s neck.

“Who is she? She looks exactly like me.”

Lyra kept scrolling, her hands trembling. There were photos of the woman dancing with Kenzo, photos of them on a yacht. Kenzo looked much younger there, his expression not as cold as it was now.

He looked genuinely happy.

She opened the last text file in the folder. It contained only a brief medical note from a psychiatric hospital overseas.

The date was just a year ago. Patient status. Missing under mysterious circumstances.

Lyra covered her mouth, nausea rising in her throat. She wasn’t just collateral for her father’s debt. She was a replacement. A resurrected ghost meant to satisfy Kenzo Alberto’s obsession.

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps approached. Lyra flinched. She quickly tried to close the folder window, but the laptop froze. A loading circle appeared in the center of the screen.

“Looking for some evening entertainment, Lyra?” Kenzo’s voice came from right behind her shoulder.

Lyra froze, not daring to turn. She could feel the heat of his body standing far too close.

Kenzo leaned down, his hands braced on the back of her chair. He stared at the laptop screen, which still clearly displayed Elena’s photo.

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she? Her name is Elena. The single biggest mistake of my life.” His voice was calm, which made it far more terrifying to Lyra.

“Why do you keep this here, Kenzo? Why did you give me her jewelry?” Lyra finally dared to turn, curiosity burning about the identity of the woman who looked so much like her.

Their faces were only inches apart, Kenzo’s eyes gleaming in the dim light.

“Because you’re my second chance to fix what was broken a year ago.”

Kenzo grabbed Lyra’s trembling hand, holding it tightly, as if he would never let go again. “You’ll become a better Elena. You’ll be the version who never leaves me.”

“Outdated drama. I’m not going to be anyone’s replacement. I’m Lyra Cullen.”

“Starting tonight, you are whoever I want you to be, Lyra.”

Kenzo pulled her to her feet and guided her back toward the bedroom, firm but controlled. “Don’t try to run. The staff here are my eyes, and the CCTV in every corner are my ears.”

He left her at the bedroom door.

After the soft chime of Kenzo’s private elevator signaled his descent, Lyra sank onto the marble floor and cried in silence. Her father’s betrayal and Kenzo’s twisted obsession crushed her from both sides.

“Why are they all so cruel? What did I ever do wrong?”

A few hours later, while searching for water in the kitchen, Lyra saw a maid throwing a large box into the trash chute.

“What is that?” Lyra asked hoarsely.

“Just old belongings from the previous occupant, Miss. The master ordered them destroyed.”

After the maid left, Lyra approached the box. Inside, she found a small diary with a deep blue leather cover. The name on the front page. Elena Alberto.

Lyra took it to the bathroom, the only place she hoped was free of cameras, and opened it at random.

March 21. He doesn’t love me. He only loves my reflection. Today I found a camera inside the button of my wedding dress. I have to leave tonight, or I will die here.

Lyra snapped the book shut. Her breathing turned ragged. Elena hadn’t disappeared because of an accident. She had run out of fear.

The phone in her dress pocket vibrated. A message from an unknown number appeared.

“He’s watching you through the camera in your bathroom mirror right now. Don’t turn around. Act normal.”

Lyra froze as she stared at her reflection, her face drained of color.

She realized her enemy was no longer the petty Hans, but the predator in front of her who pretended to be her protector.

“You want me to become Elena, Kenzo?” Lyra whispered to her reflection, forcing a smile despite the scream inside her chest. “I’ll give you an Elena far more dangerous than you could ever imagine.”

Suddenly, the bathroom light flickered. Kenzo’s voice came through the small intercom above the door, soft but lethal.

“Lyra, darling... why are you talking to the mirror for so long? Come out. I have a little surprise for you in the living room.”

Lyra looked at the mirror one last time.

This deadly performance had only just begun.