LOGINLila’s POV
“WHO TRIGGERED it?” someone shouted down the hall.
The alarm cut through everything.
It wasn’t just loud. It was invasive. A sharp, relentless sound that seemed to vibrate through the walls, through the floor, through my chest until it drowned out everything else. Conversations died instantly. Footsteps picked up. Doors opened. Voices overlapped in confusion and urgency.
For a sec
Lila’s POV“WHO TRIGGERED it?” someone shouted down the hall.The alarm cut through everything.It wasn’t just loud. It was invasive. A sharp, relentless sound that seemed to vibrate through the walls, through the floor, through my chest until it drowned out everything else. Conversations died instantly. Footsteps picked up. Doors opened. Voices overlapped in confusion and urgency.For a second, I couldn’t move.My body locked in place as the reality of it hit.This wasn’t planned.This wasn’t part of anything we had prepared for.Something had gone wrong.Jacob’s hand closed around my wrist again, firm and immediate, pulling me slightly behind him as his body shifted into something sharper, more alert.“Stay close,” he said, his voice low but steady, cutting through the chaos like a line I could hold onto.
Lila’s POV“YOU’RE not safe here anymore,” Jacob said.The words landed before I even saw him.I had just stepped out onto the east corridor, the one that curved away from the main wing where the last of the staff were finishing preparations. The house had quieted, but it wasn’t calm. Not really. There was a tension threaded through everything now, something restless and waiting, like the estate itself knew what was coming.And then he was there.One second the hallway was empty.The next, Jacob stepped out from the shadows near the column, his hand closing around my arm before I could react, pulling me sharply into the narrow space between the wall and one of the alcoves.My back hit the surface behind me, breath catching.“Jacob—”“Listen to me,” he cut in, his voice low but urgent, his grip firm enough that I
Lila’s POV“I NEEDEDsome air,” I said, keeping my tone even, my breathing steady.Adrian’seyes flicked past me briefly.Down the hallwayt hen back to me.“You left without saying anything.”“It was loud in there.”“That’s not an answer.”“It is if you listen.”The smallest pause.Adrian studied melonger this time.Too long.Like he was looking for something.Something off.Something out of place.I forced myself to stay still.His gaze dropped slightly.Not far.Just enough that I felt the shift.He’s taking in details.My posture, my hands, my face.I resisted the urge to touch my hair, to adjust my dressor to do anything that would look like I was fixing something.Because that wo
Lila’s POV“PROVE IT,” I whispered to Jacob when no one was looking.The words slipped out before I could stop them. Before I could soften them.Before I could take them back.The moment they existed between us, something shifted.Not around us.Between us.Jacob didn’t answer immediately.He didn’t move either.But I saw it in his eyes.The way something dark and controlled tightened, sharpened, reacted.We were still in the hallway just outside the ballroom, the sounds of the rehearsal dinner fading behind us into muted voices and clinking glass. The light here was dimmer, quieter, the kind of space people passed through but didn’t linger in.I had lingered. Intentionally. And he had followed.Of course he had.“You shouldn’t say things like that,” he said finally, his voice low, measured, b
Lila’s POV“STAY WHERE I can see you,” Adrian said, his tone almost casual.Like it wasn’t an order.Like it wasn’t something that settled over my skin and tightened there, invisible and deliberate, the same way his hand did a second later when it found my waist.Not asking.Not hesitating.Placing.I forced myself not to react.The ballroom had been transformed for the rehearsal dinner. Long tables dressed in white linen stretched across the polished floor, gold accents catching the glow of chandeliers overhead. Crystal glasses lined up with precision, reflecting warm light that made everything feel softer than it actually was. Staff moved quietly along the edges, adjusting placements, refilling glasses that weren’t empty, ensuring everything looked effortless.It was perfect.It felt like a stage.And I was standing exactly where Adrian wanted me.His h
Lila’s POV“IF YOUopen that door, you’d better have a reason,” Jacob said coldly.His voice cut through the silence just as the handle turned fully.For a split second, everything inside me locked.My breath.My thoughts.My body, still pressed between him and the wall, his hand firm at my waist, his other braced near my head like he had every intention of keeping me exactly where I was.The door opened.And it wasn’t Adrian.Marco stepped in.He stopped the moment he crossed the threshold.The shift in the room was immediate.Heavy.Obvious.Unavoidable.His gaze moved from Jacob to me, then back again, sharp and assessing in a way that missed nothing. He didn’t speak right away. He didn’t need to. The tension in the room spoke for itself.I moved first.Instinct.I slipped out
Lila’s POV“YOU DON’T owe me anything,” Marco said. “Not time. Not answers.”I stared at the coffee cup between my hands, the ceramic warm against my palms. Steam curled upward, fogging the space between us, softening the edges of a room that felt deliberately neutral. Pale wood tables. Chalkboard
Lila’s POV“I DON’Tknow how to do this anymore.”My voice echoed off the chapel walls, small and thin, like it had been scraped down to the bone before it left my throat. The pews were empty. The lights were low. Someon
Lila’s POVI DID not realize how close everyone was sitting until Marco cleared his throat and asked if we could speak privately.Adrian’s hand was already on my lower back. Not resting. Pressing. As if reminding me that I was there because he allowed it
Lila’s POV“DID YOUsleep at all?”Adrian’s voice cut through the quiet like a blade wrapped in silk.I looked up from my coffee and met his smile, the one he used in boardrooms and charity galas. Warm. Controlled







