All Chapters of Under His Roof, Her Game : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

ELARAI woke up to the smell of smoke.Not fire. Not the dangerous kind. Just something burnt in the kitchen. My heart still jumped anyway. It always did when I smelled smoke. There are memories buried in that smell—old ones, sharp ones. Ones I don’t talk about.My hands shook a little as I pushed myself off the bed. The house was too quiet for morning. Usually by this time someone was shouting, arguing, laughing, something. But today… silence. A heavy silence.I slipped into the hallway and made my way downstairs, my bare feet cold on the steps. I kept thinking maybe Bianca was cooking, but that didn’t make sense. Someone like her wouldn’t go near a stove. She probably didn’t even know where the pans were kept.When I reached the kitchen doorway, I saw Mateo standing by the counter with a pan in his hand and a frustrated look on his face.And Bianca… well, she wasn’t cooking, but she was certainly supervising. Leaning against the island, arms crossed, expression amused.“I told you t

ELARA I always feel it before I see it…that strange heaviness in the room.Like the air folds around me and suddenly becomes colder, tighter, harder to breathe through.That’s how I know he’s watching me.Mateo Navarro doesn’t need to speak to be heard.He doesn’t need to move to be felt.He just… stands there. Or sits there. Or leans against something in that quiet, unreadable way of his.And the worst part is—I never hear him coming.It's been two days since Valeria's body was found. I was in the upstairs hallway, pretending to read a book I couldn’t focus on. My hands were actually shaking so much I could barely hold the pages still.Then I felt it.That pressure.That awareness.Like someone was standing inside my shadow.I looked up and nearly dropped the book.Mateo was at the opposite end of the hallway, shoulder resting against the wall, arms crossed loosely over his chest. He wasn’t smiling. He wasn’t frowning. He wasn’t anything. Just… watching me with those dark, unreadab

ELARA I didn’t even understand what was happening at first.One moment Bianca was shaking in a guard’s arms, crying like her soul was breaking…and the next, she was pointing at me like I was the monster in her nightmares.“IT WAS HER! ELARA ATTACKED ME!”Her voice… God, it ripped straight through my chest.I don’t know if I gasped or cried or just froze. Everything inside me felt loose, like my bones had turned into water. The air left my lungs because… how could she say that? Why? My body reacted before my mind did.I stumbled back against the wall, clutching my bandaged arm like it hurt more than it really did.“W-What?” My voice cracked. It didn’t even sound like me. It sounded like a child.“Bianca… why would—why would you say that?”The whole foyer exploded with noise.Guards shouting.Bianca sobbing.Maids whispering.Mateo swearing under his breath, rushing forward like a storm.Everything blurred together.I covered my mouth with my hand as tears spilled down my cheeks, hot

ElaraI knew something had changed the moment I opened my eyes that morning.Not because of a sound. Not because of a light.But because… someone was watching me.You know that heavy feeling? That strange pressure in the air?That’s what I woke up to.At first, I thought maybe it was Mateo. He had been restless the night after Bianca’s outburst. Pacing. Drinking. Whispering to his men. I thought maybe he came into my room early.But when I looked toward the door, it wasn’t him.It was a man.Tall. Lean. Dark hair that fell a little over his forehead, as if it always refused to stay in place. He looked young, maybe mid-twenties. His arms were crossed, and he was leaning against the wall like he belonged there.His eyes met mine the second I sat up.And he smiled.Not a sweet smile.Not a cruel one.Just… friendly. Like we were strangers on a train and he wanted to start a conversation.I froze.My fingers clutched the blanket so tightly I felt the fabric burn against my skin.“Good mor

ELARAI waited until after dinner, when the house felt too quiet. Mateo was still in his office, arguing with someone on the phone. Dario stood somewhere behind me as usual, silent and stiff like a shadow glued to my back.And Bianca’s door… was right across the hall.She hadn’t left her room in two days. I could still hear her voice sometimes — that broken “IT WAS HER” echoing inside my skull.Poor thing.I smoothed my hair behind my ear and took a slow breath, one that felt too calm for the moment. I shouldn’t be this steady. A normal person would be shaking. But my hands weren’t even cold.“Dario,” I whispered.He stepped closer. “Yes, ma’am?”“I want to check on Bianca. Alone.”His brows twitched. “Sir Mateo asked me to stay close.”“Yes,” I said softly, tilting my head. “Close. But not… here.”His jaw tensed. He didn’t want to disobey Mateo, but he also didn’t want to disappoint me either. I didn’t need to push harder.I simply gave him a small smile — small, tired, insecure.He