CHAPTER ๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ค ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐จ
The music ended, but the war didn't.
Downstairs, violins screamed through champagne.
Upstairs, the balcony doors creaked open like an omen.
Lila slipped out with the kind of grace that looked practiced.
Because it was.
Every move she made had been watched since she was five.
Ethanโs footsteps didnโt echo.
They lingered.
Like even the marble couldnโt ignore him
She didnโt turn.
Didnโt flinch.
She lit the candle in the wall sconce with a match pulled from her heel.
Because of course, Lila Vasiliev hides fire in places no one checks
๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐ (๐ด๐) (21)
You always carry matches?
*quietly*
๐ณ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ (๐ญ๐) (19)
You always carry an audience
๐ณ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ (๐ญ๐) (19)
You werenโt supposed to play that piece.
๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐ (๐ด๐) (21)
You werenโt supposed to look at me like that.
The air between them went still
Not cold.
Not warm.
Just... still. Like time was scared to move.
Lila turned slowly, finally letting him see her properly in the candlelight.
The dress was deep crimson. The kind that made her look dangerous on purpose.
The look in her eyes was even worse.
๐ณ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ (๐ญ๐) (19)
Who sent you? My mother?
Or was this one of Isabelleโs little social experiments?
๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐ (๐ด๐) (21)
Iโm just the entertainment.
Unless youโre boredโthen Iโm the problem.
*Tilting his head*
She snorted. Half-laugh. Half warning
๐ณ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ (๐ญ๐) (19)
Youโre already the problem, Ethan Marcel.
The question is how long until youโre the regret
Not close enough to touch.
Just close enough for his cologne and chaos to mix with her perfume and pressure.
๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐ (๐ด๐) (21)
Then letโs not waste time pretending weโre here for peace.
She leaned back against the railing.
Hair loose. Eyes sharper than every knife in the ballroom.
๐ณ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ (๐ญ๐) (19)
Tell me, pianistโ
how do you know exactly what to play to make me feel like Iโm bleeding in a church?
๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐ (๐ด๐) (21)
Because I bleed there too.
*softly*
And just like that, the war paused.
Not ended.
Not won
Like two landmines learning to hold hands
And in a house full of spies and silks and silence โ
truth was the loudest thing either of them had heard in years
๐บ๐๐๐๐
๐ต๐ ๐๐๐๐
๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐,
๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐.
๐ฏ๐ ๐
๐๐
๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ
๐จ๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐. ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
Comments