Chapter Four

Living Her Lie

Isla POV

I stepped into Elias’s room the next morning carrying the fresh yellow roses he had sent with a handwritten note. He was already sitting up, looking stronger than yesterday, though the tiredness still showed around his eyes.

“You didn’t have to bring them back,” he said with a small smile as I set the vase down. “I sent them for you.”

“I know.” I sat on the edge of the bed and took his hand. “But I wanted to see your face when I thanked you. The note was sweet. You remembered the yellow ones.”

His fingers tightened around mine. “Wanted to surprise you. How are you holding up with all this? I know I’m not exactly easy company right now.”

“You’re doing better every day,” I told him. “The doctors are impressed.” 

He chuckled softly. “Getting better in a hospital bed isn’t exactly an achievement.” His smile faded slightly. “But yeah, I hate these gaps. The missing pieces. It feels like I’m reaching for something that keeps slipping away.”

“It will come back,” I said. “For now just focus on your recovery.”

Elias studied me for a moment. “You’re quiet again. The same look from yesterday. Talk to me. What’s going on?”

I forced a smile. “It’s nothing. I just don’t want you overdoing it. You need rest.”

“I need you here more than rest.” He leaned back against the pillows and pulled me gently closer. 

I stayed still and let him. It was easier than finding a reason not to.

“Promise me you’re not going anywhere again,” he said.  “I can't go through that again.” 

I looked at our joined hands. “I promise, Elias.”

“Good.” He let out a long breath and released me. “Let’s go for a walk.”

We sat on the bench in the garden later, roses heavy around us. The sun was gentle and he looked more at ease out here than he did in that room with the monitors and the medical trays.

“You seem better out here,” I said.

He smiled. “Walking in a garden isn’t running a company. But it’s a start.”

The conversation moved easily between us now, almost too easily, and somewhere in the middle of it he laughed at something I said. Not politely. Genuinely. Like it surprised him. And for one unguarded second I laughed back without thinking about Celeste or the file or the bracelet on my wrist.

Just two people sitting in a garden. 

The moment I realized what had happened I pulled it back. Straightened. Returned to the performance.

But the laugh had already happened. And it scared me more than the guilt did. Because guilt I knew how to carry. I had been carrying guilt since the hospital waiting room.

This was something else entirely. Something I did not have a name for yet and did not want one.

——————————————————————

Later that afternoon, a maid led me to Vivienne’s office. I walked in and stayed standing. She didn’t look up right away, just kept flipping through papers.

“You’re adapting well,” she said finally. “Elias seems more settled with you around.”

“I heard you called the hospital.” Her eyes met mine and stayed there. 

“You can’t expect me to sit here and rely on your word alone,” I said. “I know how people like you work.”

“Then you understand exactly what I can do.” She slid a folder across the desk. Every name I had ever worn. Every contract. Every person I had worked for. All of it laid out cleanly like she had been building the case for months.

“How did you get this?”

Vivienne closed the folder slowly and set it aside. “I have my resources. The next time you act out of line I hand all of this over. If Naomi’s life matters to you, you will behave.”

I looked at the papers for a long moment. “I won’t call the hospital again.”

“Good.” She stood. “You are smart Isla Virelli. I expect you to know better.”

She moved to the bookshelf behind her desk, straightening papers that did not need straightening, her back partially to me. “Celeste's parents will be visiting soon. They believe you’re recovering privately with Elias. That is enough for now.” She did not turn around. “You may go.” 

I left without another word, the door closing heavy behind me.

That night I stood at the window turning the gold bracelet on my wrist. It caught the moonlight like a reminder I couldn’t escape. 

The thought of prison sat heavy in my chest. I had always been careful. Discreet. That was the one thing I never compromised. And now someone had every piece of evidence they needed to bury me.

For the first time since this all began I felt genuinely trapped. Not just cornered. Trapped.

Tears burned my eyes before I could stop them.

Then I remembered being in this same situation with my previous foster parents. They used my freedom to punish me, exploited me for their dirty jobs.

Naomi and I had found each other in the strangest way. After I escaped my foster home she had given me a place to stay without asking for anything in return. She was the first person who had ever done that. She had helped me on my first job too, sharp with tech in ways that still impressed me. I smiled at the memory and let the tears fall without fighting them.

Knowing she was alive on the other side of all this was the only thing keeping me standing.

——————————————————————

I must have fallen asleep at the window because a sharp knock pulled me awake later. I sat up fast. The house felt too quiet.

I cracked the door open. Voices drifted from down the hall. Low. Urgent.

Lila stood near the staircase, talking to Vivienne. “Cassian is on his way. I tried to delay but…”

Vivienne cut her off with a sharp gesture. “Handle it quietly. Elias can’t find out.”

They didn’t see me. I eased the door shut and waited until their footsteps faded.

Cassian.

The name wasn’t in any file. It wasn’t supposed to matter but the way Vivienne’s voice had tightened around it said otherwise.

I slipped out into the corridor. Elias’s door opened a moment later. He stepped out looking unsettled, like he had heard it too. His eyes met mine across the hallway.

“Everything okay?” I asked quietly.

He shook his head. “Go back to your room, Celeste. It’s late.”

“But...”

“Please.” His voice was gentle but firm. “I just need a minute.”

He stepped back inside and closed the door.

I stood alone in the dim corridor. I had never seen him worried like this. One name had done all of that. Elias shutting me out. Vivienne’s careful control cracking just a little.

Whatever was coming with this Cassian was already moving toward us.

And somehow I was standing directly in the path of whatever was coming.