MasukLila’s POV
“TELL ME exactly what you mean,” I said.
The words came out before I could stop them.
Shock tightened in my chest. My hands felt cold even though the room was warm. Adrian’s whisper still echoed in my ears.
Your father begged me.
I refused to move. The study suddenly felt smaller than it had a few minutes ago. The heavy bookshelves, the dark wood desk, the ope
Jacob’s POV“I LOVEyou,” I said.The words came out before I could measure them.Not planned. Not softened. Not adjusted into something safer.Just the truth, dropped into the space between us while the engine ticked behind me, still hot from the ride, the smell of gasoline and metal wrapping around everything like it always did in this place.Lila didn’t answer right away.She stood a few steps away from me, just inside the garage, her chest rising and falling too fast, her hands still slightly trembling from the ride. Her hair was loose from the wind, strands clinging to her cheeks. Her eyes were wide, not with fear, but with everything she hadn’t said yet.I watched her carefully.Every second stretched.Not because I doubted what I said.But because I knew what it would cost her to say it back.“You don’t get to take that
Lila’s POV“YOU’RE not leaving the estate tonight,” Adrian said.The moment the words left his mouth, something in my chest tightened so sharply it almost felt like instinct instead of fear.I had just stepped into the hallway outside my room, my hand still hovering near the doorknob, when I saw him standing there. He wasn’t leaning or waiting casually. He was positioned directly in my path, shoulders squared, expression calm in a way that felt rehearsed.Like he had been waiting.For me.I forced myself not to step back.“Why?” I asked.My voice came out steadier than I felt, but I could hear the slight tension beneath it. The kind that only someone who knew me well would catch.Adrian did.His lips curved faintly, not quite a smile.“Because,” he said, taking a slow step closer, “it’s no lo
Lila’s POV“SOMEONE TOLDAdrian,” Jacob said.The words didn’t feel like a possibility.They felt like a conclusion.My chest tightened as soon as he said it.I was standing in the middle of the garage, arms wrapped around myself, the faint scent of oil and metal grounding me in a way the estate never did anymore. The air here was heavier, warmer, real. It didn’t pretend.Unlike everything else.I looked at him.“What makes you so sure?” I asked.Jacob didn’t answer immediately. He moved instead, stepping toward the workbench where the laptop still sat open. His jaw was tight, his shoulders set in that controlled way he got when something was already spiraling in his head.“Look at this,” he said.I crossed the space slowly, my pulse already picking up.The screen showed a live feed.&nb
Adrian’s POV“THEY THINK they’re clever,” I said.The words left my mouth low and measured, but the irritation beneath them was sharper than I preferred.Across the desk, the head of my private security team didn’t react. He stood still, hands clasped behind his back, posture straight, waiting.Good.At least someone in this house still understood discipline.I leaned back slowly in the chair, letting my gaze drift to the monitors mounted across the far wall. Multiple camera feeds flickered quietly. Hallways. Entrances. Grounds. The estate looked calm from a distance.It always did.That was the illusion.“Run it again,” I said.The man nodded once and reached for the tablet in his hand. With a few precise movements, the footage shifted. The timeline rolled backward.There.I leaned forward slightly. “Pause.”The frame froze.Lila.Standing near the east corridor, her expression unreadable from the angle. But her posture… Different. Subtle. But I knew her.I studied the image. “She’s
Lila’s POV“WE DOit at the wedding,” Jacob said.The words settled into the room like a decision already made.I stood near the center table, my hands resting lightly against its edge, feeling the cool surface press into my palms. The space around us was quiet, sealed off from the rest of the estate. One of the older conference rooms my father used for private meetings. Fitting.Unsettling.Because it felt like he should be here.Instead, it was us.Jacob leaned forward slightly across from me, his expression focused, grounded in a way that made everything feel more real. More immediate.Marco stood to my left, flipping through a set of printed documents with controlled precision. His movements were sharper than usual. Tighter.And across the table, Vivienne sat like she belonged exactly where she was. Relaxed. Observant. Watching all of us like w
Marco’s POV“YOU SHOULD never have opened that drive,” I said.The words came out sharper than I intended.I watched Lila’s expression shift across the small space of the garage office. Not fear. Not hesitation.Resolve. That made it worse.Jacob stood just slightly in front of her, not blocking me, but close enough that the line was clear. Protective. Steady. Unmoving.I exhaled slowly, dragging a hand down my face.“It wasn’t meant for you to see like that,” I added, quieter this time.Lila didn’t step back. She didn’t soften. She just held my gaze.“It was meant for me,” she said.Her voice was firm. Certain.“He made it for whoever found it,” I replied.“For me,” she repeated.The conviction in her tone hit harder than anything else.I swallowed, glancing briefly at the laptop still open on the table. The black screen reflected all three of us. Distorted. Fragmented.Like the truth we were standing in.“You don’t understand what you just stepped into,” I said.“I do,” she shot bac
Lila’s POVI DID not hear Adrian at first.That was the worst part. Not the anger. Not the certainty in his stride. But the silence before it.Jacob and I had been standing in the kitchen, the afternoon sun was bathing us with golden hues. The kind that made everything feel suspended, like the worl
Lila’s POVTHE LIGHTS went out like the house exhaled and forgot how to breathe.One second, the hall was glowing with warm chandeliers and polished surfaces. The next, everything snapped into darkness, sharp and sudden, followed by the low mechanical groan of generators struggling to wake.Someone
Lila’s POVTHE GARDEN looked different at night. Not romantic. Not soft. Just older.The hedges rose higher than they did during the day, shadows folding inward like they were listening. The stone path held the day’s warmth, seeping up through the thin soles of my shoes, grounding me in a way the h
Lila’s POVTHE POWER did not come back on all at once.It returned in pieces. Hallway lights first. Emergency systems humming unevenly. The house waking up like nothing had happened, even though everything had.By morning, the estate looked normal again. Too normal.No one mentioned the blackout ou







