Three years ago...
Narrator
One morning, Elizabeth received a text from an unknown number:
"The car is outside. Boss said you're needed."
She paused, a strange feeling crawling beneath her skin. Sebastian never sent vague messages—especially not asking for her presence in the morning instead of the usual evening.
What could be so urgent?
Still, she shrugged it off.
Maybe he was exhausted... busy... overwhelmed.
She quickly changed and headed out.
Outside, a black sedan was waiting.
Elizabeth slid into the back seat. Luca, her usual chauffeur, was at the wheel. He offered a tight-lipped smile—but something in his demeanor felt off.
He kept glancing at her in the rearview mirror. His fingers drummed the steering wheel with unusual restlessness.
Elizabeth waited for him to start the engine, but he didn't move. She didn't comment. Instead, she pulled out her hymnal and began humming softly.
"You're wasting your voice, you know," Luca muttered after a few minutes.
She looked up, brows creasing. "Excuse me?"
He met her eyes through the mirror, smirking. "You really think the boss cares about your little church girl talent? That piano-playing purity act?"
Elizabeth blinked. Something was wrong. This wasn't the obedient, quiet driver she'd known for years.
Or had this always been his hidden side?
"What exactly are you insinuating, Luca?" she asked, voice steady.
Luca scoffed and turned his gaze away. "Do you know how many women he's destroyed? Some didn't make it out alive. He pretends to be their friend, gets close, makes them feel seen... special. Then, he sleeps with them—once, maybe twice—and when he's done, they disappear."
Silence fell. Heavy and sharp.
Elizabeth's heart didn't want to believe it. Not even a sliver of it rang true. She spoke softly, but firmly, "You're lying. Mr. Jakub is a hard man, yes. But he has a heart."
Luca's laugh was cold. "A heart? What makes you think you're different? You're just background music. A soft melody he plays to soothe himself before another kill."
Her fists clenched in her lap.
Then he added, with venom, "He even said once... the religious ones break the hardest."
That line shattered something inside her.
Luca turned then, his hand sliding toward the back seat—fingers brushing the edge of her skirt.
She flinched.
His voice dropped low. "You want the truth about that mansion? Maybe I should show you something more exciting than a piano. You don't need him. Just give yourself to me—I'll make you feel like a real woman. Something you've been missing. Something you'll thank me for."
He leaned closer.
Her heart pounded with dread.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Someone knocked hard on the tinted window. Luca's hand recoiled instantly.
Elizabeth silently thanked the stranger.
Outside stood Bruce—Sebastian's head of security. Towering. Broad. Dead serious.
"Open the damn door!" he barked.
Luca hesitated. Elizabeth suddenly realized he had put the car on child-lock.
Bruce yanked the door open, glaring.
"Out. Now."
Luca looked ready to argue—until Bruce shifted just enough to reveal the shotgun strapped to his side.
Luca jumped out without another word.
Bruce turned to Elizabeth. "You okay?"
She nodded stiffly, clutching her hymnal with trembling hands. "Yeah."
Bruce slid in beside her. Arms crossed. Jaw tight.
"Don't tell him," she whispered, voice hoarse. "Please. I know what he's capable of."
"You serious?" Bruce asked. "That guy needs to learn. It's not the first time he's tried this with one of the boss's women. Most of them fall for it."
"Please," Elizabeth begged. "Keep this between us. I don't want him to know."
"But why? He deserves everything coming to him."
"Because... he'll kill him."
Bruce didn't argue. He knew Sebastian's temper. If this got out—Luca wouldn't walk again.
"Fine," Bruce sighed. "But from now on, I'm watching that bastard myself."
Elizabeth exhaled, finally allowing her shoulders to relax. "Thank you."
---
The following evening, Elizabeth booked an Uber.
She didn't wait for Luca—or any car sent by Sebastian.
She was still shaken by yesterday's incident.
Dressed modestly in a black turtleneck cardigan, black palazzo pants, and a grey hijab, she carried a black tote and wore simple flats.
Her hands wouldn't stop fidgeting. Her heart wouldn't slow down.
She hadn't told Sebastian anything—and she prayed Bruce hadn't either.
But every hour that passed made the lie itch beneath her skin.
She had told him she couldn't come because of a family friend's death.
A lie. One she'd begged God to forgive immediately.
At the mansion's entrance, she took a deep breath and stepped inside.
Silence.
As she walked through the marble foyer, she heard it—
the sound of something wet hitting tile.
She turned—and froze.
In the center of the hall, Luca knelt on the floor. Hands tied behind his back. Face bloodied. Lip split. One eye swollen shut.
Bruce stood beside him, arms crossed.
And across from Luca... sat Sebastian.
Calm. Still. Terrifying. A throne of silent wrath.
Dark eyes burning like coals.
All three men turned at the sound of her steps.
Luca's remaining good eye widened in horror.
No one spoke.
Then Sebastian stood. His voice was cold. Calm. Too calm.
"So... the lie was about a funeral, was it?"
Elizabeth's breath caught.
He stepped forward slowly, hands in his pockets, but the air around him cracked with tension.
"You said someone died," he murmured. "That's why you couldn't come."
He paused. Then added darkly, "Turns out... the only one who almost died—was you."
Her hands trembled at her sides.
"And you let me believe it was nothing."
"I didn't want you to kill him," she whispered.
Sebastian stopped. Stared at her.
His eyes—those sharp, light brown eyes—searched hers.
She looked down.
"I didn't believe him. Not for a second. But I didn't want blood on my conscience. Not his. Not yours."
There it was again—her.
Always reaching for light in a house full of shadows.
Behind her, Bruce exhaled—like he'd been waiting for her to speak.
Sebastian said nothing for a long time. Just stared at her.
Studied her.
"You thought I'd lose control," he finally said.
"No," she replied, voice quiet but steady. "I thought... you wouldn't come back from it."
That hit him.
He looked away.
"Bruce," he said, eyes averted. "Take him out. Keep him breathing... but break his hands."
Luca screamed as Bruce dragged him away.
Elizabeth flinched.
But she didn't stop it.
Even her mercy had limits now.
Sebastian didn't say a word. Just walked away, hands deep in his pockets.
Elizabeth stood in silence, uncertain if she should follow.
Eventually, she did.
She found him upstairs, on the balcony.
Sleeves rolled up. Forearms bruised. Eyes distant.
He had never raised his fists for anyone—not even for his sister, Sharon.
But for Elizabeth, he'd become something wild. Something dangerous.
Why?
He didn't know.
"I'm sorry," she said softly, approaching.
"You shouldn't be."
"I lied."
"I know."
She paused. "I just didn't want to see the worst of you."
He turned slowly. His eyes darker than she'd ever seen.
"What if the worst is all there is?"
She met his gaze. "Then... I'll keep playing until I find what's left."
Silence.
The wind stirred. The house seemed to exhale with her words.
Sebastian didn't look away.
Then finally, in a voice low and serious, he said, "Don't ever hide anything from me again."
"I won't," she whispered.
He walked past her, close enough for his shoulder to graze hers.
Just before disappearing down the hall, he added,
"Next time I send for you... it'll be me at the door."
Her heart thudded.
It almost sounded like a king... stepping down to meet a commoner.
She turned—but all she saw was his back, slowly disappearing into the dim hallway.