ALINA’S POV.

    It wasn’t until I was finished that I realized what I had been sketching, and my hands dropped the sketch pad in horror.

    No, it wasn’t a dress.

    Staring back at me was a detailed figure, the same hooded figure that had been haunting my nightmares.

    The ringing of my phone finally broke my gaze from the haunting image in front of me.

    This time, the caller was Ss. He seldom called me, so even though I wasn’t in the mood to talk to any of them, I picked up

    the call. !--

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    “Alina.” His indifferent tone came through the phone.

    “Good morning, Father.” I greeted.

    “Your mother has been calling you.” He stated.

    “I’ve only just woken up, Father,” I lied smoothly. “I didn’t hear my phone ring.”

    “Hmmm.” He hummed, clearly unconvinced. “Your sister is in the hospital. You shoulde see her.”

    It was more of an order than a request. He caught me off guard, I didn’t have the time toe up with an excuse not to go.

    “She’s been released?” I asked, a little surprised by the news.

    “Yes. We got a call from the stationtest night asking us toe pick her up,” he told me. “Shouldn’t you be aware of this?” His tone turned confused.

    So Lucian did listen to mest night, then. He hadn’t said a word to me this morning, and I was certain he wasn’t home right

    now.

    I would have known, there was something lighter about the atmosphere this morning, which is a huge contrast to the usual quiet, intimidating weight it usually held when he was home.

    “Is she hurt?” I asked instead.

    “We had to take her to the hospital for some tests and a check-up because she wasn’t feeling too good.” He told me.

    Of course. Trust Seraphina to make a big deal out of nothing. I knew for a fact that she was fine, this was just another one of her attention-seeking performance. It was something she had always done.

    “Are you listening to me?” Ss’s sharp tone filtered through the phone, snapping me out of my review.

    “Yes, Father.” Came my automatic response, though I had no idea what he had just said.

    “Make sure youe to the hospital. Seraphina wants to apologize to you.” He said stiffly.

    I nearly scoffed. Seraphina wanted to apologize, yet I had to be the one to go to her? Make it make sense, people.

    I knew this wasn’t about any apology, there was more to this. Still, I needed a distraction from the nightmare of the previous night, so I was going to humor them this time.

    *

    I’ll be there soon, Father.” I told him.

    And with that, he ended the call.

    My eyes drifted back to the sketch still lying on the floor. I picked it up carefully, as if the image might leap off the page and

    materialize before me.

    Quickly, I closed the pad and flung it onto the table, letting out a sigh of relief as if shutting the page might also close the door on the fear it held.

    After that, I went to the bathroom to freshen up.

    An hourter, when I went downstairs for breakfast, Jordan was already waiting by the base of the staircase got me, as if he could sense that I would be going out.

    “Good morning, ma’am.” His expression was unreadable, but the slight crease in his forehead gave his worry away. “Are you okay, madame? Do you need me to call a doctor?”

    “I’m fine, Jordan. Do not worry about it.” I assured him, brushing past and making my way to the dining area.

    Almost immediately, the chefs came out with my breakfast, cing several delicate dishes in front of me.

    It was different from the usual.

    “What’s the asion?” I couldn’t help but ask, arching a brow.

    “Master Lucian requested we make something extra special today for you.” The head chef informed me.

    Lucian.

    We hadn’t spoken sincest night, and things hadn’t exactly ended well either.

    What did this mean? Was this his way of saying sorry? I mean, first he let Seraphina go even though he said he wouldn’t, and now he had ordered the chefs to prepare a whole banquet.

    “Oh,” I said in response. “Will he be joining me?” I directed my question toward Maya, who stood quietly in the corner.

    None of them knew we had a fight, or should I say a quarrel,st night. At least, I hoped they didn’t. There had been no yelling, no harsh words thrown around.

    But I didn’t want them to know that I didn’t even know about his whereabouts.

    “Master Lucian left very early for a business trip this morning.” She informed me.

    A business trip? He didn’t say anything to me. Then again, we weren’t really on speaking terms, so that would make sense.

    “Oh, alright.” I said simply, picking up my fork.

    A part of me couldn’t help but think that maybe Lucian just running away because we had a fight, it wouldn’t be the first time. In the past, I remembered him being absent for weeks whenever we fought, immersing himself in work and disappearing to God knows where just to avoid me.

    Was that what he was doing again?

    “Is the food not to your liking, madame?” The chef asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

    “Huh?” I blinked, confused.

    The food, would you rather we make something else?” He asked again a frown on his face.

    “No, Emilio. This is perfect.” I managed a small smile.

    Still, his expression told me he didn’t believe me. He kept staring at my te.

    I followed his gaze, and only then did I realize I hadn’t taken a single bite.

    “Sorry.” I muttered sheepishly, then quickly brought the already loaded fork to my mouth.

    I couldn’t help the small moan that escaped my lips when the vors exploded across my pte. Emilio beamed with pride.

    “This is heavenly, Emilio.” Iplimented him honestly.

    “Thank you, ma’am. It’s a native recipe, it contains…”

    I drowned him out at that point.

    The food did taste incredible, but I had zero appetite. After the first few bites, it began to taste like sandpaper in my mouth.

    I couldn’t eat anymore.

    “Could you pack the rest up to go for me?” I asked, rising to my feet.

    “Of course, ma’am.” He said, still beaming as he got to work.

    I couldn’t eat, but that didn’t mean someone else wouldn’t. If I didn’t take the food with me, it would just go to waste.

    In a few minutes, Emilio was handing over some bags to Jordan.

    “Here you go, madame, I added a little extra.” He said.

    “Thanks for breakfast, Emilio. It was wonderful, as always.” I told him before leaving.

    During the car ride, Jordan kept stealing nces at me through the rearview mirror, but I ignored him. Instead, I went through the email Mia had sent me regarding the orders.

    “Go through Old Ninth Avenue.” I instructed without ncing up from my iPad.

    “Okay, ma’am… What!?” He eximed, shocked, his foot mming on the brakes abruptly.

    a