Chapter 6

Morning sunlight spilled across the dining room of the Cole mansion, warm and golden against the polished marble floors.

The atmosphere, however, remained cold.

Damien sat at the head of the table scanning financial reports while untouched coffee cooled beside his hand.

Across from him, Lily smiled softly as she added sugar into her tea.

Anyone looking from outside would think the scene peaceful.

Comfortable even.

The woman Damien loved had finally returned.

Everything should have gone back to normal.

So why did the mansion feel stranger than before?

“You barely slept,” Lily said gently.

Damien flipped another page without looking up. “I had work.”

“You always say that.”

“That’s because it’s true.”

Lily smiled faintly like she was used to his distance already.

Five years ago, she probably was.

A maid entered quietly carrying breakfast dishes before placing them carefully on the table.

“Mr. Cole,” she said nervously, “should we still prepare meals for Mrs. Cole’s room?”

The room fell silent.

The maid immediately realized her mistake.

“I...I mean—”

“No,” Damien answered flatly.

The maid hurried away quickly.

Lily lowered her eyes toward her tea. “It still feels strange hearing people call her Mrs. Cole.”

Damien finally looked up.

“She signed the divorce papers.”

“But the divorce isn’t finalized yet.”

His expression cooled slightly. “It will be.”

Lily studied him carefully.

Then softly asked, “Do you still care about her?”

Damien’s gaze sharpened instantly.

“No.”

The answer came too fast and too cold.

Lily noticed.

Of course she did.

She leaned back slowly. “Then why did you assign security around her apartment last night?”

Damien’s hand paused briefly above the documents.

“She’s still legally tied to the Cole family.”

“That’s not really an answer.”

Damien closed the file calmly. “Someone tried breaking into her apartment.”

Lily blinked. “What?”

“She’s being watched.”

“For what reason?”

“That’s what I intend to find out.”

Silence stretched across the table.

Then Lily forced a small smile. “You sound worried.”

“I’m cautious.”

“About Aria?”

Damien’s patience thinned slightly. “Enough.”

Lily lowered her gaze immediately. “Sorry.”

But her fingers tightened quietly around the teacup.

Because she knew Damien well enough to notice something dangerous:

He was paying too much attention to Aria again.

Meanwhile, across the city, Aria sat inside a crowded café staring at rejection emails on her laptop.

Every company she contacted either ignored her or politely turned her away after searching her name online.

Her reputation had been destroyed.

Nobody wanted controversy attached to their business.

Not even now.

A waitress approached carefully. “Another coffee?”

Aria looked down at the untouched cup in front of her and smiled faintly. “No thanks.”

The waitress hesitated before speaking again.

“You’re Aria Jones, right?”

There it was.

Aria nodded slowly.

The waitress looked uncomfortable immediately. “Sorry...I only recognized you from the news.”

“It’s okay.”

The girl lingered awkwardly before whispering, “I don’t think you look like the kind of person people describe online.”

Aria looked up slightly surprised.

Then the waitress smiled quickly and walked away before making things more awkward.

For some reason, that tiny moment stayed with Aria longer than expected.

Maybe because kindness had become rare.

Her phone buzzed suddenly.

Noah.

“Did you sleep at all?” he asked immediately after she answered.

“Not much.”

“You should’ve called me sooner about the break-in.”

“I handled it.”

“You shouldn’t have to.”

Aria stirred her coffee slowly. “Did Damien send you?”

Silence.

That answered enough.

“Noah.”

“He’s trying to understand who’s targeting you.”

“He’s doing it out of control, not concern.”

Another silence followed.

Then Noah sighed. “Maybe even Damien doesn’t know the difference anymore.”

Aria looked out the café window quietly.

A black sedan sat parked across the street again.

Damien’s security.

Still watching.

She ended the call shortly afterward.

At the same time, inside the Cole mansion, Lily walked quietly through the storage room near the west wing.

Dust covered most of the old furniture stacked against the walls. Boxes filled with forgotten photographs, decorations, and family items lined the shelves.

Lily searched carefully through one particular cabinet until she finally found what she wanted.

An old photo album.

Her expression relaxed slightly.

She flipped through the pages slowly.

Childhood photos.

Family trips.

School events.

Then finally—

A faded photograph slipped partially loose from one page.

Lily froze.

The lake.

The storm.

Two soaked children wrapped in emergency blankets.

Young Damien sat near an ambulance while another figure stood nearby barely visible beneath a large jacket.

Aria.

Not Lily.

The photograph wasn’t perfect proof.

But it was enough to raise questions.

And questions were dangerous.

Very dangerous.

Lily stared at the image quietly for several seconds before footsteps approached outside the storage room.

She immediately hid the album behind her back.

Damien entered moments later.

“What are you doing in here?”

Lily smiled quickly. “Looking for old memories.”

Damien glanced around the dusty room. “You shouldn’t be breathing this air.”

“You sound like an old man.”

“You disappeared for five years. Let me complain a little.”

Lily laughed softly.

The sound echoed warmly through the room.

For a moment, Damien almost relaxed.

Almost.

Then his gaze landed briefly on the corner of the hidden photograph still visible behind Lily’s arm.

“What’s that?”

Lily’s fingers tightened slightly.

“Nothing important.”

Damien stepped closer automatically.

Lily immediately moved the photo behind her completely.

The movement was small.

But Damien noticed it.

“What are you hiding?”

“Just embarrassing childhood pictures.”

Damien held out his hand calmly. “Show me.”

The tension shifted instantly.

Lily smiled again, but this time it looked thinner.

“You really want to see pictures of me missing teeth?”

Damien didn’t smile back.

Slowly, Lily pulled the photograph out halfway.

Only halfway.

Not enough for Damien to see properly.

Then suddenly she laughed softly.

“Oh my God, look at my hair.”

Before Damien could react further, Lily grabbed a nearby candle from the storage shelf.

And held the photograph over the flame.

The paper caught fire instantly.

Damien frowned. “Lily.”

She dropped the burning photograph into a metal tray casually.

“Problem solved.”

The flames curled slowly across the image.

Swallowing the lake.

The ambulance.

The hidden figure beside Damien.

Gone.

Lily watched it burn completely before looking back at Damien with a small smile.

“You know,” she said lightly, “some memories are better left in the past.”

Damien stared at the ashes briefly.

Something about the moment unsettled him slightly.

Not enough to question her seriously.

But enough to stay in his mind afterward.

Later that evening, Lily stood alone on the mansion balcony while speaking quietly on the phone.

“I told you to remove everything connected to that day.”

A male voice answered nervously from the other side.

“I thought that was the last copy.”

“Well think harder.”

“Miss Lily —"

“If Damien finds out the truth before I fix this, everything falls apart.”

Silence followed.

Then the man asked carefully, “What about Aria?”

Lily’s expression cooled slightly as she stared into the dark garden below.

“Watch her carefully.”

“And if she remembers something?”

Lily’s grip tightened around the phone.

“She won’t.”

But after ending the call, she remained standing there much longer than necessary.

Because for the first time since returning,

things were no longer fully under her control.

And somewhere deep down, Lily could already feel it.

Damien was beginning to look at Aria differently.