Elara’s POV
Aiden’s car pulled up less than ten minutes after I dropped him my location, headlights cutting through the rain like they were searching for me.
The passenger door opened before I even reached for the handle.
He leaned over. “Get in.”
I slid inside, soaking wet, my hands cold and limp in my lap. He peeled off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders without a word.
“Where to?” he asked quietly.
I couldn’t answer. I stared out the window, blinking hard, the rain blurring into white streaks.
He waited.
“I have nowhere,” I whispered.
Aiden gave a quiet exhale. “Alright. Then we’ll go to mine.”
We didn’t speak as the city lights slipped by. The air between us was stitched with too many unspoken years.
I hadn’t seen him for years. Back when my name was just Elara. No last name. No family. Just the maid’s quiet daughter who clung to books and the boy next door.
And then she died.
And the Vance family adopted me.
They told me I was lucky. Special. Chosen.
But behind their smiles, I saw it in their eyes. I wasn’t a daughter.
I was a problem they were cleaning up.
“I want you to listen carefully,” Mrs. Vance said, pouring tea into delicate porcelain like we weren’t discussing my future.
I was seventeen. Sitting stiffly in the family room that never felt like mine.
“There’s a marriage proposal,” she said. “From the Ashfords.”
My fingers tightened around the teacup. “Sierra?”
Mrs. Vance glanced at me with a soft, practiced smile. “No, darling. You.”
I blinked. “Me?”
She set the teapot down. “You wear our name, Elara. It’s time you repay it.”
“But I… I’m not—”
“You’re not really a Vance,” she said kindly. “We know. That’s why this is perfect.”
My chest tightened.
“Thorne Ashford is marrying into the Vance name,” Mr. Vance added. “Not the girl. The name. You’ll be his wife. On paper. That’s all he needs. That’s all you need.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“Be grateful,” Mrs. Vance said, gently touching my hand. “This is more than your mother ever could’ve given you.”
I blinked back into the car. My throat felt raw.
Aiden was still silent. He didn’t ask anything. His hands on the wheel were the only stable thing in my world right now.
We turned through the gates of his estate, a quiet, elegant mansion nestled between tall trees.
The driver stopped. Aiden stepped out first, walked ahead without looking back. I followed.
He brought me to a guest room at the end of a long hallway.
He stopped at a door at the end of the hall.
“Guest wing,” he said. “Fresh clothes in the closet. Bathroom’s through there.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
He didn’t move.
I glanced at him. “You’re still quiet.”
“So are you.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Neither do I.”
We stood there in that awkward quiet, two ghosts with too much history.
Then, softer, he asked, “Are you okay?”
I hesitated. Then, “No.”
He nodded once.
“You can stay as long as you want.”
Another pause.
“Why did you pick up?” I asked quietly.
He looked at me like I’d asked a stupid question.
“You called.”
He said, then looked away.
Later, after the shower, after the tea, after the dry clothes and the folded towels…
He stood in the doorway again, one hand resting on the frame.
“Get some rest,” he said.
“I’ll try.”
He turned to leave.
“Aiden.”
He stopped.
“Goodnight,” I said.
He looked back, just a little. “Goodnight, Elara.”
I didn’t go to bed right away. Instead, I wandered barefoot down the hall.
I don’t know why. Maybe I just couldn’t sit still in silence. The weight of the day still clung to my skin, even after scrubbing it raw.
I passed what looked like a library. A gallery wall of black and white photographs. A hallway lined with closed doors.
No staff. No footsteps. Just me and the echo of my own breathing.
Until something about it unsettled me.
I turned a corner.
Stopped.
And that’s when I felt it.
A hand clamped hard over my mouth from behind.
I barely had time to inhale before everything went black.
When I woke, the floor beneath me was cold.
My arms were bound. My ankles were tied.
The air reeked of oil and damp concrete. A dim yellow bulb flickered overhead.
I blinked. My head spun.
Across from me, a soft whimper broke through the quiet.
“Elara?!”
Sierra.
She was tied up too, mascara streaked down her cheeks, her dress torn at the hem.
“What—where are we?! What is this?!”
My mouth wouldn’t move. Panic closed around my ribs like a vice.
The door slammed open.
Two masked men entered.
One carried a gun. The other, a phone.
“Call him,” one said.
When they dialed a number, my stomach turned.
It rang once.
Twice.
Then—
“This is Thorne Ashford.”
My heart dropped.
The man’s voice was low and direct.
“We have your wife. And Sierra Vance.”
A beat of silence.
“Only one leaves,” the second man said. “Choose.”
Sierra’s scream cracked the air.
“Thorne! It’s me! Please, please don’t let them hurt me! Please!”
I wanted to scream. Move. Anything.
But I sat frozen, breath shallow, blood roaring in my ears.
Then his voice came through again.
Calm.
Sharp.
Final.
“I’ll take Sierra.”
