Chapter 30

Julian’s POV

I’m losing my damn mind.

I watched as Marcus helped Hailey into the golf cart, laughing like he didn’t have a graveyard behind his smile. Her hand brushed his arm. She didn’t pull away. He leaned in a little too close—like he had every right to be there.

Like she was his.

This house used to be mine. My rules. My brothers followed me. People feared the name Lachlan. But now? Now everything spins around her.

Hailey.

She walks in here like she belongs. Like the halls were made for her footsteps, and the estate responds to her voice. George gave her everything. The house. The power. The keys. The damn riddles.

And all of us?

We’re just background noise in her story.

I hate it.

I hate her.

No—I hate what she’s doing to me.

Because every time I tell myself I want her gone, I catch myself looking for her. Listening for her laugh. Waiting for her footsteps outside my room at night like I’m some boy with a crush.

Pathetic.

This isn’t how I work.

I’m not the guy who catches feelings.

I’m not soft. I don’t fall.

And if I ever did?

It wouldn’t be for someone like her.

Not my rival.

Not the girl who turned my entire world inside out.

Not the woman who inherited everything I was meant to protect.

She’s not even family.

Just a name on George’s will.

And yet… she walks around like she owns the place.

Maybe she does.

Hell, maybe that’s what pisses me off the most—that he trusted her more than us. That he gave her the map and left us blind.

And now Marcus—

Marcus leaned in and tucked Hailey’s hair behind her ear.

Something inside me snapped.

I crossed the green, took the club from her hand, and handed her the right one. My way. My rules.

Marcus, suddenly her little tour guide? Teaching her golf, laughing with her, opening up like he didn’t spend the last ten years building walls around his heart?

It should bother me less.

But it does.

My jaw tightened. My grip on the club cracked.

I tried to focus on the game.

Failed.

I tried to look away.

Failed again.

Because when she smiles at him, something sharp hits my chest.

Jealousy?

No.

That’s not it.

I’m not jealous of Marcus. I don’t care who she flirts with. She can flirt with the whole damn estate for all I care.

But I do care that it’s working. That she’s getting to him. That she’s softening him.

That she’s doing the same thing to me.

Every time I see her, I remember Eloise. The way she looked before she started to fall apart—bright-eyed, full of curiosity. Just like Hailey.

I watched this house chew Eloise up and spit her out. It dragged her down until she couldn’t breathe anymore.

Until it broke her. And now it’s happening again. Same story. Different girl.

Same ending?

No.

Not this time. I won’t let it. Not because I care. But because I don’t.

I won’t feel sorry for her. I won’t lose control again. And I sure as hell won’t let this house turn me into the guy who falls for the enemy.

Because that’s what she is.

She’s not one of us. She doesn’t understand the rules.

She walks around like she’s solving puzzles, but she doesn’t know what she’s opening. What doors she’s waking up to. What pain she’s bringing back.

If she keeps digging, the past will eat her alive.

And maybe, maybe part of me wants to let it.

Just to say I told you so.

But then I remember her voice.

“I do belong here.”

And God help me… I believed her.

I hate that.

I hate that when she’s not in the room, something feels off. I hate that her laugh gets stuck in my head. I hate that I notice the way she twirls her fingers when she’s thinking. The way she bites her lip when she’s nervous. The way she makes me forget who I am.

I’m Julian Lachlan.

I don’t feel things.

And if I do?

I bury them deep.

No girl is going to change that. Especially not the girl who stole my family’s inheritance. Not the one George picked over all of us.

I press my fists against the wall, trying to shake it off.

She needs to leave. That’s the truth. She doesn’t belong here. Not with my brothers. Not in this house. Not in my head. But I know she won’t go easily.

She’s stubborn. She’s fearless.

She’s… too much like us. And that scares me more than anything.

Because if this house couldn’t save Eloise…

What makes me think it can save Hailey?

I close my eyes for just a second. I see her face.

And I hear my own voice whisper something I don’t want to feel:

“I don’t want to care about her.”

But the worst part?

I already do.

And that might be the most dangerous thing of all.