LOGINALYANA POV The words didn’t register right away. Before the fire. They stayed in the air between us, heavy, sinking slowly into my chest like something I didn’t know how to process. I stared at Julian, waiting for him to say something else. To explain. To fix how wrong that sounded. He didn’t. “Before the fire,” I repeated quietly, my grip tightening around the folder. “You’re saying my father worked for you… and you never thought to mention that?” Julian’s jaw shifted slightly. Not defensive. Not guilty either. Just… careful. “It wasn’t relevant,” he said. A short, disbelieving breath escaped me. “Not relevant?” I shook my head, taking a small step back. “You brought me into this house, into your life, into whatever this arrangement is—and you didn’t think that mattered?” His gaze didn’t leave mine. “At the time, it didn’t.” “That doesn’t even make sense.” “It does,” he replied, voice still calm, still controlled. “Your father was one of many people connected to the comp
ALYANA POV The ride back to the mansion was silent. Not the kind of silence that felt peaceful. It pressed in from all sides, thick and heavy, like something unfinished was sitting between us. I kept my hands in my lap, fingers tightly clasped together, staring out the window even though I wasn’t really seeing anything. The city lights blurred past, but my mind stayed stuck on what had just happened. The fight. The way Julian lost control. The way Leo didn’t back down. And the way I stood there… doing nothing. I swallowed, my throat still dry. Beside me, Julian didn’t speak. He hadn’t said a single word since we left. But I could feel him. The tension in his body. The way his hand rested too still against his leg. Even his breathing felt controlled, like he was forcing it to stay steady. It made everything worse. I glanced at him for a second. His gaze was fixed straight ahead, jaw tight, expression unreadable again. Like nothing happened. But I knew better now. I ha
ALYANA POV I didn’t plan to see Leo again that soon. But after what happened with Julian, staying inside the mansion felt impossible. The walls felt tighter, the air heavier. Every corner reminded me of his voice, his warning, the way he looked at me like I already belonged to him. I needed space. Even if it meant making things worse. I found Leo exactly where I expected him to be. Near the same café. Leaning casually against his car like he didn’t have a care in the world. But the moment he saw me, his expression changed. Not surprise. Relief. “You came,” he said, pushing himself off the car. I crossed my arms, more to steady myself than anything else. “I shouldn’t have.” “Then why did you?” I didn’t answer right away. Because I didn’t know how to explain something that didn’t make sense even to me. Leo studied my face, his brows pulling slightly together. “What happened?” I let out a slow breath. “Julian knows.” A pause. Then Leo let out a quiet, humorless laugh. “
ALYANA POV I knew something was wrong the moment I stepped out of my room. The hallway felt colder than usual. Too quiet. Even the staff who normally moved around in the morning were nowhere in sight. It didn’t feel like peace. It felt like something had already happened—and I was the last one to know. I wrapped my arms around myself as I walked downstairs, my steps slower than usual. My chest felt tight, like I was walking into something I couldn’t avoid. And then I saw him. Julian was standing near the floor-to-ceiling windows, his back facing me, one hand tucked into his pocket. He wasn’t moving. Not even slightly. The sunlight hit the side of his face when he turned his head just enough to notice me. His eyes landed on mine. My steps stopped. There was no greeting. No usual cold remarks. Just silence stretching between us. “You’re awake,” he said finally. His voice was calm, but it didn’t feel normal. It felt… controlled. Too controlled. “I could say the same,” I replie
ALYANA POVI didn’t answer him.I couldn’t.Because the way he said it—what I tolerate—sat heavily in my chest, like a line had just been drawn and I didn’t know which side I was standing on.Julian didn’t move away.He stayed right there, close enough that I could feel the heat coming off him, close enough that I had to tilt my head slightly just to keep meeting his eyes. His hand had already dropped back to his side, but the memory of his fingers brushing my wrist still lingered, making it harder to think clearly.“You’re quiet again,” he said.His voice wasn’t sharp this time. It was lower, steadier, but there was something underneath it that made me uneasy.“I’m thinking,” I replied.“About what?”I let out a small breath, shifting my weight slightly just to create some space between us. “About whether this is going to be how it is now.”His brows drew together faintly. “How what is?”“This.” I gestured vaguely between us. “You telling me what I can and can’t do. Me having to expl
ALYANA POV I didn’t sleep well. Again. But this time, it wasn’t because of the mansion or the silence or the feeling of being watched. It was him. Julian’s voice from yesterday kept replaying in my head, calm but firm, the way he said stay away from him like it wasn’t a suggestion. Like it was something already decided. I stared at the ceiling, my fingers curled loosely on top of the blanket, trying to slow down the thoughts running through my head. I wasn’t used to this. To someone setting boundaries for me like that. To someone expecting me to follow them. And yet… what bothered me more wasn’t what he said. It was how it made me feel. Because a part of me didn’t want to ignore it. I pushed myself up with a quiet sigh and swung my legs off the bed. The cold floor grounded me a little as I stood, grabbing the first cardigan I could reach before heading out. The hallway was already awake. Soft footsteps, distant voices, the quiet rhythm of staff moving through their routi
ALYANA POVThe east wing felt different from the rest of the mansion.Maybe it was just my imagination, but the air there didn’t feel as stiff as the other parts of the house. The hallways were quieter, and the large windows along the walls let in more sunlight. Dust motes floated lazily in the bea
ALYANA POV The moment I heard his voice, I got nervous. I didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was. Only one person in this house spoke that calmly in the middle of the night, like nothing ever surprised him. Julian. Leo’s fingers were still wrapped around my wrist when the sound of
Alyana POV The paper felt heavier than it actually was. It was a small scrap of stationery with only a few words, but my pulse spiked as if I’d been caught red-handed. Meet me in the garden tonight. Midnight. Come alone. And that single, messy letter at the bottom. L. I refolded the note, m
Alyana POV I didn’t trust him—not even a little. Yet somehow, a few minutes later, I was walking beside Julian Vance down a long marble hallway. He was giving me a “tour” of the mansion, but with every step, the place felt less like a home and more like a high-end prison. The silence between us







