Chapter Eleven

Liora’s POV

I walked through the ground-floor doors of the Virelli corporate building carrying a lunch bag, smiling at the front desk security guards who immediately bowed their heads to greet me as the future lady of the estate. Cassian had been ignoring my phone calls all morning, so I decided to drop by his office unannounced to remind him about our engagement party plans and make sure he knew I was still the most important person in his life.

"Good morning, Miss Liora," the head receptionist said, stepping out from behind her counter to smile at me, "are you heading up to Mr. Virelli's private office?"

"Yes, I am bringing him lunch since he was too busy to pick up his phone today," I replied, keeping my voice sweet and gentle as I walked past her toward the private VIP elevator bank at the back of the lobby.

Before I could swipe my keycard to call the elevator down, the indicator light flashed green, and the heavy doors slid open right in front of my face.

I took a half-step back to let the passengers step out, but the moment my eyes landed on the woman walking out of the elevator cab, my heart stopped completely, and I nearly dropped the lunch bag onto the floor.

Elaris walked out of the elevator wearing an expensive suit, looking confident and calm, while a tall man in a dark suit walked beside her, carrying a small boy in his arms who held onto his neck tightly.

"Elaris?" I gasped out, my voice trembling as I stared at her in utter disbelief, unable to process how she was standing in Cassian's private building after six years of complete silence.

Elaris stopped for a brief second, turning her head to look at me with cold, distant eyes, but she did not say a single word to me, simply continuing her walk straight past me toward the front exit doors as if I were nothing more than a piece of trash on the floor.

"Mommy, is that woman looking at us?" the little boy asked in a clear voice as he rested his chin against the man's shoulder.

"Don't worry about her, Casey," Elaris answered smoothly, keeping her head up high as the front doors opened for her group, "just stay close to Uncle Enzo while we head to the car."

I stood glued to the floor, watching them walk out onto the driveway, but my mind was racing with terrifying thoughts because the little boy named Casey had dark hair and facial features that looked terrifyingly identical to Cassian's childhood photos.

"Miss Liora, is everything alright?" the receptionist asked, hurrying over to my side when she noticed how pale my face had turned.

"Who was that man with her?" I asked sharply, dropping my fake gentle act for a second as I turned to stare at the receptionist, "And why was Elaris coming down from Cassian's private floor?"

"I don't know the exact details, Miss Liora," the receptionist answered nervously, backing away slightly, "she went straight up to Mr. Virelli's office about twenty minutes ago, and the gentleman with her said he was her business partner."

Panic flared inside my chest as I realized that if Elaris was back in the city looking powerful and wealthy, everything I had built over the last six years—my position in the mansion, my access to Cassian's money, and my secret control over his life—could come crashing down in an instant.

Instead of taking the elevator up to see Cassian, I turned around, hurried out the frony doors, and waved down a taxi parked near the street corner.

"Follow that black sedan that just pulled out of the driveway," I ordered the driver as I threw myself into the back seat, pointing toward Elaris' luxury car as it merged into the heavy city traffic ahead of us.

"Sure thing, ma'am," the driver said, stepping on the gas pedal to keep a steady distance behind them as we drove toward the commercial district downtown.

We followed the black car for fifteen minutes until it pulled up to the valet entrance of an exclusive restaurant near the river, where Elaris and the man stepped out with the little boy and met a young girl who was waiting near the entrance with a nanny.

I paid the taxi driver hurriedly, stepped out onto the sidewalk, and pulled my large sunglasses over my eyes so nobody would recognize my face as I walked into the main dining room behind them.

The hostess led Elaris, the tall man, and both twins to a large round table near the center window, and I quietly took a small corner table two rows away, sitting behind a tall floor plant where I could hear their conversation clearly.

"The food here smells really good, Mommy," the little girl said, sitting down between Elaris and the boy while looking around the bright dining room.

"I am glad you like it, Cassandra," Elaris replied, smiling warmly at her daughter while taking a sip of water from her glass, "we have a lot of work to set up over the next few weeks, so we need to make sure you two are settled in properly."

"Cassian was acting completely insane back in that lobby, Elaris," the man named Enzo said, setting his glass down on the table while looking across at her with a serious expression, "he actually tried to lay his hands on you and threatened us with his legal team, even after seeing how confident you were."

"He thinks he still owns me, Enzo," Elaris answered, her voice cold and sharp as she shook her head, "he thinks he can intimidate me with his family name, but he has no idea that we hold more than enough influence to force his hand in court."

Sitting behind the plant, my fingers dug into the edge of my purse until my knuckles turned white, because hearing that Cassian had thrown a jealous scene in his own lobby over Elaris and her son proved that he was still completely fixated on her, and if he ever discovered the real truth about what happened six years ago on the night of the welcome-home dinner, I would lose every single thing I had lied to achieve.