Chapter 15

Lilith’s POV

After Lucian walked out of the boutique without a backward glance, I stood there for a moment, trying to understand what had just happened. The staff waited quietly, unsure if they were supposed to approach me or pretend they did not see anything. I forced a polite smile and waved them off.

“We will handle proper introductions once the boutique officially opens,” I said.

They nodded quickly and began gathering their things. Bags, notebooks, sample fabrics. One by one they stepped out, murmuring goodnight. When the last door clicked shut, the boutique felt too bright, too empty. The kind of empty that still felt watched.

I turned off the front lights and stepped outside, hugging my arms. The street was quiet. The sign above the boutique glowed softly. The cold air made my breath come out thin. I stared in the direction Lucian had driven, feeling the unease climb slowly up my spine.

Why had he left like that?

What message had shaken him.

Did he go to one of his mistresses again? I saw him receive a call from her while we drove here.

I didn’t have any answers.

A black car pulled up softly in front of me. The tinted window rolled down, and a man stepped out. He wasn’t one of Lucian’s guards. There was no stiffness in his shoulders, no rushed politeness. He carried himself with a kind of steady confidence Lucian’s men never had.

“Mrs. Verona,” he said. “I am here to take you home.”

I narrowed my eyes slightly. “Who sent you?”

He looked at me without hesitation. “Rafe. From Damien. He asked me to drop you home.”

My breath caught. The reaction was instant. Damien knew I was alone. He knew Lucian had left in anger. He had sent someone before I even asked for help. The thought shook me in a way I didn’t want to acknowledge.

I did not argue. I walked toward the car and got in quietly. The man did not speak during the ride, and neither did I. He drove with calm precision, not rushed, not hesitant. When we reached Verona Estate, he stopped at the entrance.

“You will be safe now,” he said simply.

I stepped out. He waited just long enough to see the guards recognize me, then he drove away without another word.

Inside the estate, something felt wrong. The halls were not bustling. The usual shift of guards was missing. Only two men remained in sight, standing stiffly near the foyer, as if they had been instructed not to move.

Lucian’s presence was gone. The rooms that usually carried his energy felt strangely neutral, as if he had taken the temperature of the house with him.

I walked to his office and paused at the doorway. My eyes found the exact spot on the molding where I had seen the blinking camera last time. The small red light that had stared at me. The thing that had made my heart nearly stop.

It was gone.

Not hidden.

Not broken.

Totally removed.

I walked closer, touched the wood lightly, tracing the place where it had been. My stomach tightened. Had I imagined it. Should I have told Lucian. Or was it already too late to get out of whatever I had stepped into without meaning to.

The silence felt heavy, and thick.

I went upstairs and locked my room. I showered again, letting the water burn my skin. It still did nothing to wash Damien’s presence off me. Not his voice, not his hands, not the way he looked at me like he could see something Lucian never bothered to.

After dressing, I sat on the edge of my bed and finally picked up my phone.

“Thank you for sending Rafe.”

I hit send quickly before I changed my mind.

The message was delivered, but the screen stayed quiet.

I told myself I didn’t care.

The tightening in my chest said otherwise.

By midnight, there was still no sign of Lucian. I walked downstairs, unsure if I was hoping he had returned or praying he hadn’t. The maids were whispering near the kitchen. When they saw me, one stepped forward.

“No, ma’am,” she said gently. “He hasn’t come home.”

I nodded. Relief and dread mixed in my stomach. Lucian only disappeared like this when something dangerous was happening.

I ate alone, then went to bed.

The house felt like it was holding its breath.

Morning came slowly. When I opened my eyes, my hand reached for my phone before I even realized I was moving.

Nothing from Damien, not a single word.

I wasn’t sure what disappointed me more: the silence or the fact that I cared.

Before the thought settled, my phone rang. Lucian’s name filled the screen. I sat up straight and answered.

“I will be away for a while,” he said. His voice was sharp, clipped, all business. “Do not go to the orphanage. Only the boutique. And you will come home immediately after. The driver will take you.”

Not a suggestion, not even a warning, it's a a law.

“Yes,” I said quietly.

He hung up without another word.

I dressed quickly, tied my hair back, and left with the driver. The ride to the boutique felt longer than usual. When I stepped inside, four staff members were already waiting for me. Three young women, one young man. All neatly dressed, all nervous.

They lined up as if I were their employer and not just someone thrown into this position.

“Good morning, Mrs. Verona,” one of the girls said.

I forced a warm smile. “Please, relax. We will figure things out together.”

Their shoulders loosened slightly. I walked past them toward the small office Lucian had claimed would be mine. I tried to focus on the rhythm of my steps so I wouldn’t think about Lucian’s voice, or Damien’s silence, or the blank space inside my chest that had grown too loud.

I was halfway to the back when the front door opened.

The sound was small, but my body reacted before my mind could. I turned sharply, heart beating too fast, breath caught somewhere high in my chest.

For a second, I thought it was him.

Damien.

I felt it like a spark under my skin. A stupid, unwanted spark.

But it was not him.

Just a woman stepping inside with a polite smile and a handbag tucked under her arm.

The disappointment hit me before I could swallow it. My reaction felt wrong. Embarrassing. I looked away quickly and pretended to straighten a stack of papers on the counter.

Why had I reacted like that?

Why had I wanted it to be him?

What did that say about me?

I took a slow breath and walked deeper into the boutique, trying to steady my pulse. But each step made something in my chest tighten instead of loosen.

Today would not be calm.

The silence inside the house last night had warned me.

Lucian’s v

oice this morning had confirmed it.

Something was coming.

And I was standing right in the middle of the storm’s path.