CHAPTER 135: SAFE.

"This is... your home?" she whispered, as though speaking too loud might break the illusion.

It wasn’t awe alone in her tone. It carried a faint tremor of disbelief, the sound of someone trying to reconcile the brutal stories whispered about this place with the elegance now unfolding in front of her eyes.

Wildfire Estate. Block C.

Alice shot her a sidelong glance, "Don’t stare too much. You’ll draw attention."

But Paula couldn’t seem to help it. The building looked just... too much. She had seen Block A and B and now, they were at C, which was equally magnificent.

The word Paula had used, home, echoed unpleasantly in her mind. Even now, even after a while of living under its roof, she could never bring herself to think of Block C as hers. It was Hades’s. It would always be Hades’s. And stepping into it with Paula at her side felt like exposing her to something dangerous, something that might stain her if she wasn’t careful.

Before she could reach for the door, the front door opened.

Clarisse stood there, looking like a figure carved from efficiency. Her black suit seemed to absorb the light pouring from the chandeliers behind her, her expression cool, practiced, unreadable.

"Welcome back, Miss Aurora," she said smoothly, her gaze flicking briefly to Paula before dipping into the smallest of nods. "And guest."

Paula straightened, shoulders drawing taut, lips pressing into what might have been meant as a polite smile. But her hands betrayed her, twisting nervously in the folds of her skirt.

Clarisse’s eyes lingered on her for a fraction too long before returning to Alice. "The boss is occupied with the others. He won’t be out tonight. However..." she stepped aside, gesturing toward the right-hand corridor "...a room has been prepared for your guest. A doctor is already waiting there to examine her."

Relief loosened the coil in Alice’s chest. At least that much had been handled. Paula would be looked after. She turned to reassure her with a nod, but Clarisse’s voice continued, even and calm.

"And lastly..." the faintest pause "...there will be a family dinner tonight at Block A. Attendance is compulsory. According to Beth, who brought the message earlier."

Alice froze. Her spine went rigid, her lips parting, but no words emerged for a heartbeat. Then, sharply, low: "Why?"

One of Clarisse’s brows ticked upward almost too subtly, as though the question itself were unusual. "I don’t know the reason, Miss Aurora. The Matriarch personally requested your presence." She tilted her head slightly. "There’s no need to be nervous."

Her voice softened just at the edges, though her delivery remained flat. "The Boss will be there. And Gavin will also be accompanying. So you should be... safe."

Safe.

The word rang hollow in Alice’s ears. Safe did not belong there.

What unsettled her more was how little of it made sense. A sudden family dinner out of nowhere? Gavin accompanying to sit at the same table? It was too neat. Too deliberate. Unease rippled down her spine, a silent warning she couldn’t ignore.

There would be Dawin too right?

Did he tell them? That she was a fake and he knew where Aurora was?

Was he going to expose her at the dinner?

What was happening?

She glanced at Paula. Her face had drained of color. The awe from earlier was gone, replaced by the same tightly wound dread curling inside Alice’s chest.

And though she didn’t know it yet, Clarisse had left something out.

Gavin hadn’t been invited at all. He had insisted on coming. His reasoning was blunt: someone needed to keep Hades in check. With Dawin present, and Alice at the table, the night was far too volatile to leave to chance. But there was also something deeper. It was currently an open secret between them that something was going on with Dawin and between Dawin and Hades. They didn’t want to take any chances with what he might be planning.

Nobody wanted stories coming out of that dinner. And if the miss Boss was going there, Hades might be too distracted to actually focus on what was happening around him.

Not that Dawin would straight up attack him or something... they didn’t think he was that crazy. But someone had to be looking out for every kind of sign. Even the faintest body language.

And... it was not unusual for Gavin to be there anyway. He had even read Hades’s wedding vows.

Alice finally nodded hesitantly. Though, still filled with dread.

---

Paula drifted into an uneasy sleep not long after. Her breathing softened, but it wasn’t rest, it was the uneven rhythm of someone trapped in a dream they couldn’t escape. Her brow furrowed, fists curling slightly into the sheets.

Alice sat at the edge of the bed, her chest tightening. The doctor had insisted she would be fine. Just some painkillers, some rest, nothing serious, but Alice couldn’t convince herself to believe him.

The room had fallen quiet now, save for the faint hum of the air conditioning system. Clarisse had brought in a tray earlier, light lunch, which Paula hadn’t seemed to mind, thankfully.

Leaning forward, Alice placed a folded note on the bedside table, her handwriting small but steady despite the ache hollowing her chest. ’I’ll be back by the time you wake up. Rest. You’re safe.’

She hesitated, then added one more line: ’I promise.’

A knock on the doorframe broke the silence.

Clarisse entered, her posture as crisp as ever. "Dinner with the Wildfires is in an hour," she said smoothly, her eyes flicking toward the bed where Paula lay.

Alice nodded, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Her gaze lingered on Paula, worry etched plainly across her face.

"She’ll be safe here," Clarisse said, her tone unexpectedly gentled. "I’ll keep an eye on her myself."

That pierced Alice, slipping past her defenses. She managed a small smile, apologetic in its curve. "Thank you. Really."

Clarisse’s lips tilted in the faintest echo of a smile. Then her eyes swept over Alice with clinical precision. "You may want to spend more time on your makeup. It’s clear you’ve had... a long day."

Alice blinked, caught off guard, and let out a quiet huff of amusement. "That obvious?"

"Very."

There was the faintest trace of teasing in Clarisse’s flat delivery. She lingered a moment longer. "Do you need help?"

Alice shook her head quickly. "No, it’s fine. I’ll manage."

Clarisse gave a curt nod and slipped away, her heels clicking down the hall.

Left alone, Alice exhaled slowly. She head to her room, closing the door quietly behind her. She moved to the vanity, staring at her reflection. Pale skin, tired eyes, lips pressed too tightly. A stranger’s face looked back at her. She dabbed concealer under her eyes, fixed her eyeliner, reapplied muted lipstick. Each gesture felt mechanical, like patching cracks on a crumbling wall.

Halfway through, her phone buzzed.

She reached for it, and saw Hardy’s name flash across the screen. Earlier, she had sent him a simple and short message, ’Thank you for your help today.’

Now, his response came.

’I hope all went well,’ his first message read.

The second came almost immediately: ’I will look into what we discussed. Rest assured. Let me know if you ever need help.’

Alice stared, her reflection overlaying Hardy’s words in the glass. Something shifted inside her. Something dangerously close to hope.

Maybe... just maybe, she thought, her thumb hovering over the keyboard, I can trust him.

But she didn’t reply. Not yet. She locked the phone and set it aside.

By the time the clock edged toward 6:30, she was dressed and ready. Her body felt heavy as stone, but her face bore the mask she needed. She smoothed her simple dress one last time, adjusted the necklace at her throat, and stared at her reflection until it looked convincing enough.

Dinner with the Wildfires.

The words alone stiffened her spine. This wasn’t just a meal. It never was.

And she wasn’t looking forward to it. The anxiety was killing her.

And still, she moved forward.

Because what choice did she have?

Hades was already outside when Alice stepped out. He stood with Gavin, both of them holding sleek vapes, faint curls of smoke fading into the dusk. Their conversation cut off the instant they noticed her, and almost in unison, they flicked the vapes out.

Hades didn’t say a word. Just a glance. Quick, assessing, and somehow that single look wrapped Alice in silence, made her skin burn with awkwardness all over again.

Gavin drove. She sat in the back with Hades. The car felt smaller than it was, the silence heavier with every second. Not a word between them. Alice pressed her hands together in her lap. She could die from how suffocating this was.

And then, just before they reached Block A, she spotted them; two figures ahead on the path, clearly heading to the same Block A but seemed to have walked down instead.

Wilson.

And Suzy.

"Shit," Gavin muttered immediately, recognition sharp in his voice the moment he recognized her from behind.