Mag-log inVivienne’s POV
“YOU THINK I’m helping you out of kindness?” I laughed.
Amusement curled through me, slow and deliberate.
Lila stood across from me in the dim corner of the private lounge, her posture stiff, her eyes sharper than the last time I had seen her. There was something different about her tonight. Less hesitant. More dangerous.
Good.
I preferred her that way.
I le
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“DON’T BEgentle with me,” I said, my voice barely steady.The words hung between us, fragile for only a second before something in Jacob’s expression shifted in a way that made my breath catch.His hand was still on my jaw.Firm.Unyielding.Not hurting me, but not careful either.Like he had stopped pretending he needed to be.His eyes searched mine, dark and sharp, as if he were trying to decide whether I understood what I was asking for.“You don’t mean that,” he said quietly.“I do.”The answer came faster this time.Stronger.Because I did.Because the fear that had been building inside me all night had nowhere else to go.Because Adrian’s voice was still in my head, still wrapped around my thoughts, still trying to pull me back into something small and con
Lila’s POV“SAY ITagain,” Adrian murmured against my ear.His voice slid over my skin like something deliberate, something practiced, something meant to sound calm while it tightened around me like a slow, invisible grip.I did not move.I could feel him behind me. Close enough that the heat of his body pressed faintly through the thin space between us. Close enough that if I leaned back even slightly, I would be touching him.I kept my spine straight.“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, forcing each word to come out steady, even though my pulse had started to climb.A soft breath left him, almost like a quiet laugh.“That’s not what you said before,” he replied, his tone thoughtful, as if he were replaying something in his mind. “You were more convincing five seconds ago.”I swal
Lila’s POV“TOMORROW,”Jacob said quietly.The word did not feel like a promise. It felt like a countdown.I stood in front of the tall mirror in my room, fingers pressed against the cool surface as if I needed something solid to keep me from drifting. Behind me, the estate stretched wide and silent, too quiet for a place that was about to host a wedding, a memorial, and a war all at once.Tomorrow.The word settled deep in my chest, heavy and unmoving.I watched Jacob’s reflection instead of my own. He stood near the door, arms crossed loosely over his chest, posture relaxed in a way that only made him look more dangerous. His presence always carried that same contradiction. Calm on the surface. Something far more violent underneath.“Tomorrow,” I repeated, softer, as if saying it differently might change what it meant.“It’
Lila’s POV“WERE YOUwith him?” Jacob asked.The question was not loud.It was worse than that. It was controlled.We were standing near the east terrace where the afternoon sun filtered through the glass panels. S
Lila’s POVTHE DOORS closed behind me, but the weight of Adrian’s gaze lingered longer than the metal walls around us.“You need to understand,” he said, voice low and deliberate, “that everything I do, I do for you.”I folded my arms across my chest. My legs felt suddenly heavy, as if the floor it
Lila’s POVI LEARNEDvery quickly that wedding announcement dinners were not about celebration.They were about performance.The dining hall had been transformed into something ceremonial, candlelight reflecting off polished silver
Lila’s POV“I’M SORRY,”I said, loud enough for everyone to hear.The words left my mouth feeling heavy, like cement pressing down on my chest. My stomach twisted in knots, but my face betrayed nothing.







