The mansion felt wrong in the morning.
Too quiet.
Too tense.
Like the walls themselves were listening.
Zara walked into the dining room, expecting the usual noise , guards murmuring, Mia complaining about bitter coffee, Ricco barking orders.
But today, the room was empty.
All except one person.
Mia.
She sat with her feet propped on a chair, arms crossed, eyes narrowed like she'd been waiting specifically for Zara.
Zara stopped. "Where is everyone?"
"Busy," Mia said sharply. "Because of her."
Zara swallowed. "Elara."
"Don't say the name like it's pretty. It's poison."
Zara sat across from her.
Mia didn't smile. Didn't joke. Didn't even tease.
And that terrified Zara more than anything.
"What is she?" Zara asked.
Mia let out a heavy sigh.
"Trouble. The kind that doesn't knock , it kicks down your door and sets the house on fire."
"She knew Lorenzo."
"Oh, she didn't just know him," Mia said bitterly.
"She was supposed to marry him."
Zara felt the air punch out of her chest.
"Marry?" she whispered.
Mia nodded slowly. "The alliance was arranged. Two families combining power. Lorenzo didn't want it, but he accepted it. Because he had no choice."
Zara blinked. "But she died"
"She faked her death," Mia cut in.
"And if she's back now, it's not for forgiveness. It's for revenge."
---
Meanwhile in Lorenzo's study
His hands shook.
Not visibly. No one else would notice.
But Lorenzo felt it.
Elara's voice still whispered in his ear.
> Does she know you ruined me for her?
He slammed his fist into the desk, splintering the wood.
He had to protect Zara.
But he didn't know how.
Elara wasn't like Lucian.
Lucian attacked the body.
Elara attacked the soul.
He'd rather face ten men with guns than one woman wearing black gloves.
Because Elara didn't want his life.
She wanted his destruction.
And she knew exactly where to strike:
Zara.
---
Back in the dining room
Zara stared at Mia, trying to steady her breathing.
"Why come back now?" she asked.
"Power," Mia said simply. "And because Lorenzo never chose her. Even when everyone expected him to."
Zara's heart stuttered.
"Then who did he choose?"
Mia looked at her , long enough to make the meaning clear.
Zara flushed.
"I didn't.... I don't... it's complicated."
"No."
Mia leaned forward.
"It's dangerous."
Zara opened her mouth, but footsteps sounded behind them rapid, confident, sharp.
Lorenzo walked in.
And went still.
When he saw Zara, something in him loosened and tightened at the same time.
"Come with me," he said.
His tone held no room for refusal.
Zara rose.
But Mia grabbed her wrist and whispered,
"Be careful. He's not the only one watching you."
Zara nodded and followed Lorenzo as he led her into the hallway.
---
The Confrontation
He didn't take her far.
Just outside the room, he turned, jaw tense, eyes storm-dark.
"You weren't supposed to be in the south corridor last night."
"Where else was I supposed to be?" Zara asked.
"You told me to stay where you could find me."
His jaw ticked.
"That was before she walked into my home."
Zara took a step closer. "Lorenzo… who is she really?"
He closed his eyes.
And that, to Zara, was worse than anger.
"Someone I should have killed," he said quietly.
"Someone who knows every mistake I ever made. Every weakness. Every scar."
"What does she want?"
"You," he said without hesitation.
Zara's breath caught.
"Why me?"
"Because you're the first thing I've wanted," he said, voice strained.
"And Elara destroys anything I want."
Zara swallowed, throat tightening.
"You keep calling me your weakness."
Lorenzo lifted his gaze , slowly, painfully.
"No," he said. "Elara thinks you are. Lucian hopes you are."
He stepped closer.
"But you're not my weakness, Zara."
Her heartbeat stumbled.
"You're my edge."
His fingers brushed her jaw soft, trembling, reverent.
"Being with you doesn't make me weak. It makes me dangerous."
Zara's breath hitched.
"But that also makes you a target," he finished.
Zara lifted her chin.
"I'm already a target."
He looked like she'd stabbed him.
Zara....
"No," she whispered.
"You told me last night not to pretend. So don't you pretend now."
His breath shuddered.
He looked at her like he wanted to pull her close.
And like he wanted to push her far away.
Instead, he cupped her cheek with one hand thumb brushing her skin like he needed the reassurance she was real.
"Elara isn't like Lucian," he said softly.
"She won't come at you with guns or threats. She'll come with lies. With charm. With promises."
Zara held his gaze.
"What did she whisper to you last night?"
Lorenzo froze.
Completely.
Zara stepped closer.
"Tell me."
He hesitated…
Then whispered:
"She said she came back to finish what she started."
Zara frowned. "Which is?"
Lorenzo swallowed, voice almost breaking.
"Killing the woman beside me."
Her blood went cold.
Not because of the threat.
But because Lorenzo said it like he meant something else.
Something older.
Something darker.
Something Zara didn't understand yet.
"What did she do to the last woman?" Zara whispered.
Lorenzo's eyes hardened.
"She made sure there would never be another."
Zara felt her stomach twist.
"Then why am I here?" she asked softly.
Lorenzo looked at her raw, exposed, terrified.
"Because I didn't choose them," he said.
"I chose you."
Silence.
Heavy.
Electric.
Unforgiving.
Zara's heart pounded.
This man.
This dangerous, haunted, beautifully broken man…
He was hers.
But that also meant:
Elara was coming for her.
---
At that same moment in the basement
Elara stood before an old, locked metal door.
She hummed softly as she worked.
Inside the room were boxes — files — secrets.
The kind that toppled empires.
She ran her gloved fingers over a folder marked in black ink:
RENEGADE PROJECT — SUBJECT 01
Her lips curled.
"So this is the secret he never told her."
She laughed.
Then took the file.
And disappeared into the darkness.