Chapter 6

The lawyer’s words still hung in the dining room like smoke.

Lila stood frozen by the window, the black car long gone. Her pulse roared in her ears. Damien Blackthorn had looked straight at her and said the words she could still see on his lips.

Lila... you are mine.

Her mother’s voice shattered the silence first. “This is a mistake. It has to be. Lila was not even at the gala. She has done nothing to deserve this.”

Her sister shot up from her chair, face twisted. “He chose her? The one who disappears to run errands? I smiled at him the entire night. I posed for every photo. And he wants the nobody who wasn’t even there?”

Lila turned slowly from the window. She kept her face blank, the same mask she had perfected for six years. But inside her mind raced. The table read was tonight at eight. The director expected Liora Vale. Her mother now expected her to be the perfect, obedient daughter who would smile and accept whatever arrangement the Blackthorns demanded.

Her mother paced the length of the table. “Victor made it clear they wanted a bride from this family. But not you. Never you. What did you do, Lila? Did you speak to him? Did you do something behind our backs?”

Lila met her mother’s eyes without flinching. “I tripped. I fell into his lap for two seconds. That was all.”

Her sister laughed, sharp and ugly. “You fell on him? And suddenly he wants to marry you? That’s ridiculous. He’s broken. He’s pitied. He should be grateful anyone would take him. And he picks you?”

Their mother stopped pacing. Her gaze sharpened on Lila like a blade. “You will fix this. You will tell them there has been a misunderstanding. Your sister is the one they want. She is the one who belongs in that world. You will step aside like you always do.”

Lila said nothing. She could still feel Damien’s hands steadying her waist, the quiet strength that didn’t match the “Broken Heir” story everyone told. He had looked at her like he saw the mask... and chose to ignore it.

The grandfather clock in the hall struck ten.

Her mother exhaled through her nose. “The papers are coming today. We will meet with Victor tomorrow and make this right. Until then, you will stay in this house. No errands. No disappearing. You will be exactly what you are... nothing.”

Lila nodded once. “Yes, Mother.”

Inside, the words landed differently now. Nothing. The same word she had used as armor for years suddenly felt like a lie.

Her sister grabbed her phone and stormed toward the stairs. “I need to fix my image after last night. Make sure my dress is ready for the brunch tomorrow, Lila. That’s all you’re good for anyway.”

Their mother followed, heels clicking. The dining room emptied, leaving Lila alone with the half-finished tea and the heavy silence.

She waited until their voices faded upstairs. Then she pulled out her phone.

The agent’s message was still there. “Table read tonight at eight. Director wants the full confrontation scene again. This is the one.”

Lila stared at it.

She had less than ten hours to leave the house without being seen. Less than ten hours to become Liora Vale while her family expected her to stay invisible and accept a marriage she had never asked for.

Her thumb hovered over the reply button.

She typed: “I’ll be there.”

Sent.

The message vanished. Lila deleted the thread and slipped the phone back into her pocket. Her hands were steady, but her heart wasn’t.

Damien Blackthorn had just chosen her.

The family was already planning how to undo it.

And tonight she would have to choose which lie she wanted to live inside.

She picked up the teacups and carried them to the kitchen. The house felt smaller. The walls felt closer.

Outside, the black car was gone... but she could still feel Damien’s eyes on her.

He had started something last night.

And Lila had no idea how to finish it without burning both her lives to the ground.