By morning, the mansion felt colder.
Celina sat at the breakfast table alone, barely touching the omelette that had appeared like magic. No staff in sight—again. Just food, silence, and the question echoing through her mind:
Who wanted her dead?
She pushed the plate aside.
Last night's file hadn't lied. There were too many details—too many eyes on her life. Someone had been tracking her for months. And Darius... he hadn't denied it.
He'd just confessed to canceling a hit on her.
And marrying her instead.
She shivered, brushing her fingers over the gold band on her ring finger. It glinted under the light. Cold. Beautiful. Binding.
She didn't hear him enter—but suddenly, he was there. Darius Kael moved like smoke. Like danger wrapped in velvet.
"You didn't sleep," he said, studying her face.
She looked up, stiff. "Hard to sleep in a stranger's house with a file marked 'Target Acquired' next door."
His jaw clenched. "That file should've been locked."
"That's your takeaway?" she snapped. "Not sorry you found out your husband was a paid assassin?"
He didn't blink. "I told you—I protected you. That contract was void the moment I intervened. Everything after that... was my decision."
"And that makes it okay?" she stood. "You think a ring erases what you did?"
"No," he said quietly. "But it keeps you alive."
The room fell into heavy silence. Celina felt her throat tighten.
"Why me?" she whispered. "Why did they want me dead?"
Darius didn't answer.
Instead, he pulled a small tablet from his jacket and turned it toward her.
On the screen: a paused video feed of a woman. Late thirties. Sleek red dress. Crimson lipstick. Eyes like steel.
Darius tapped the screen. "Her name's Lenora Vale. She's the one who placed the bounty on you."
Celina frowned. "I don't know her."
"She knows you."
Celina's heart dropped. "Why?"
"She was married to your father."
Celina blinked. "My father died ten years ago."
"I know."
"So... what? She's my stepmother? I've never met her."
"Exactly." Darius's voice darkened. "Your father left something behind. Something Lenora wants."
Celina's mouth was dry. "What did he leave?"
"I don't know. Yet."
"And you think... what? That I'm some hidden heir to a fortune or something?"
Darius looked her straight in the eyes. "You're the key to whatever it is. And Lenora's the type who'd rather bury the key than let anyone else open the door."
Later that day, Darius left the house.
Celina didn't ask where he was going. He didn't offer an explanation.
But she couldn't sit still anymore.
She needed answers.
And if Lenora Vale wanted her dead, then maybe there was more to her father's past than she thought. Her childhood had always been quiet—her dad an overworked accountant, her mom a sweet schoolteacher who passed when she was young. There were no secrets. No drama. Just silence.
But maybe that silence was by design.
She made her way back to the study.
The file was gone.
Figures.
But Darius had been sloppy with one thing—he hadn't locked the drawer where the tablet was.
She found it, turned it on, and browsed through the recent footage. It was encrypted, but not beyond her. Years working admin at a tech firm had its benefits.
She skimmed through the files until she landed on a folder labeled "LV-Intercepts."
Her heart pounded as she opened it.
A video loaded. Grainy footage from a security camera in what looked like a luxury hotel lounge.
Lenora Vale sat at the table, legs crossed, sipping wine. She was speaking to someone off-camera. Her voice was calm, calculated.
"She doesn't know anything yet," Lenora said, voice crisp. "But the longer she stays alive, the greater the risk she'll find it."
"And if she does?" a man's voice asked.
Lenora smiled.
"Then she'll die slower."
Celina recoiled. Her chest tightened.
She was really going to die. That woman wasn't bluffing.
She closed the tablet, hands shaking.
And that's when she heard the door creak open behind her.
She whirled around—and saw someone she didn't expect.
A woman.
Not Lenora. Younger. Mid-20s, with short dark curls and sharp eyes.
She wore a leather jacket and held a knife in one hand like it was an accessory.
"Hi," the woman said coolly. "You must be the wife."
Celina stepped back instinctively. "Who are you?"
The woman smirked. "I'm Ivy. Darius's ex-partner."
Celina's stomach dropped. "Partner in what?"
Ivy tilted her head. "Killing. Spying. Lying. The usual."
She crossed the room slowly, almost cat-like.
"I let myself in. Hope you don't mind. I needed to make sure you were still breathing."
Celina stiffened. "Why?"
"Because someone just tripled the bounty on your head. And Darius? He's not the only one with keys to this place."
Celina's voice was barely a whisper. "Are you here to kill me?"
Ivy gave a dry laugh. "If I were, you'd already be dead."
Comforting.
"I'm here to warn you," she continued. "Darius has enemies. And they're watching both of you now. The minute he lets his guard down... you're gone."
Celina swallowed. "Then why are you helping me?"
Ivy's smile vanished. "Because I owe him. He saved me once. Now I'm saving his wife. After this, we're even."
Before Celina could respond, Ivy slipped something into her hand—a flash drive.
"Play it when he's not around. It'll answer questions he won't."
And just like that, she was gone.
Darius returned just after sunset.
His shirt was torn at the sleeve, and a gash ran down his forearm.
Celina rushed to him. "You're hurt."
He brushed her off. "It's nothing. One of Lenora's men. I handled it."
"You were ambushed?"
He nodded. "Won't happen again."
Celina stared at him. This was her life now—one where her husband got stabbed in the afternoon and called it a Tuesday.
"You're not safe anymore," he said suddenly. "They know where you are. We have to move you."
"To where?"
"A safehouse. I'll keep watch from there."
"Another cage?"
His gaze darkened. "A safer one."
Celina turned away.
She wanted to scream. To cry. To run.
But instead, she slipped the flash drive Ivy gave her into her pocket.
Tonight, she would find out what Darius wasn't telling her.
Even if it changed everything.