Chapter 5. Dinner with the Devil
The next few days passed like the ticking of a slow, expensive clock.
Elara moved through Damien’s world like a ghost in silk, polished on the outside, hollow on the inside. She attended functions, smiled for cameras, and nodded at conversations she didn’t care for. In return, Damien stayed out of her way.
They weren’t lovers. Not friends. Just co-owners of a lie so big, the truth couldn’t breathe beneath it.
But on the fifth night, things shifted.
"Dinner," Damien said, stepping into the lounge where she sat curled on the velvet couch with a book.
She looked up. "I already ate."
"I’m not asking," he replied calmly. "It’s not for us. My mother’s in town."
Elara sat straighter. "Your mother?"
"Yes. And she requested to meet my lovely new wife."
Her stomach twisted. She’d read enough society articles to know Margot Arclight was not a woman who smiled easily.
"And if I say no?" she asked.