LAYLA'S POV
A single detail sat out of alignment.
A small shift in the room.
Something he left behind.
Something meant for me.
Right there on the table was a bouquet of pink roses dusted with glitter. Pink;he remembered. It had always been my favorite. Seeing even bigger hit me in the chest, soft and painful at the same time.
Shoved inside the roses was a note and a box. I swear my face lit up before I could stop it, smiling like some lovesick idiot. My heart flipped in my chest.
The note read:
"Ten years ago you left before I could wake up without a goodbye. God knows how I've longed for this revenge, only that mine is not a goodbye. See you after work, my Lay."
My Lay.
Was he already claiming me like he had no competition?
The tone of it, the confidence of it, the way it reached right into the past and dragged old feelings to the surface;I felt every word. And damn it, butterflies erupted in my stomach as I whispered the note aloud.
Inside the box was the cutest Rolex I'd ever seen: rose gold with pink details, small and delicate, rich without being loud. My breath left me for a second. He bought this. For me. Purposefully. Intentionally. Michael Wade didn't make random gestures. Everything he did was deliberate.
I was just about to open the clasp when a voice cut through the air behind me.
"Good morning, Ms. Layla. I hope you had a lovely night."
Her sweet tone tattled me as it echoed against the walls, and my mind flashed violently to last night;pieces, touches, heat. I turned to face her, still holding the Rolex and the note.
"Mr. Wade would like me to help you with anything you need," she continued, stepping closer, the gap between us closed smoothly.
"I made breakfast, but if you prefer something else, kindly make a request and it will be done."
She was neat, calm, and perfectly composed.
"Please call me Nancy. I'm Mr. Wade's housekeeper."
"Nice to meet you, Nancy," I said, pushing a shaky breath out. "Yes, I would like something. Whatever you made, please. I'm sure it'll taste just as good as you look."
She smiled, a small, pleased smile but her thank you was swallowed almost instantly by a deeper voice filling the room.
"Good morning, Ms. Layla. Mr. Wade would like you to have these, and I'm available to take you wherever you would like to go."
James walked in carrying shopping boxes stacked neatly in his arms. Michael's driver tall, toned, unreadable, moving like a shadow trained for order and silence. They both looked so well-kept, like everything in Michael's world was intentionally curated.
I thanked them both just as a notification buzzed from inside the bedroom.
Still holding the Rolex box and the note, I rushed inside, footsteps quick on the polished floor.
James followed quietly behind me, carrying the boxes with that same deliberate gentleness, placing them one by one inside the wardrobe as if they were fragile artifacts. I barely noticed. My eyes were locked on my phone.
And the second the screen lit up, my heart dropped straight into my stomach.
Agent Miller.
Again.
The name alone turned my blood cold. My fingers hesitated, then opened the message.
A picture filled the screen.
Anna.
Sitting at a table in her care home, eating breakfast. Hair braided. Wearing the pale sweater I washed last week. Completely unaware.
My breath sputtered out of me.
Under the picture was her exact location.
Coordinates.
Time stamp.
Everything.
My knees weakened. The room swayed.
It wasn't a coincidence.
It wasn't a check-in.
It wasn't routine.
This was a threat.
A reminder of who owned the shadows around me.
A reminder that they could reach into the one piece of my world I protected most fiercely.
Anna's picture stared back at me, innocent and small, and for a moment, the glittering roses, the note, the Rolex, the butterflies;they all evaporated. Reality slammed back into my chest, sharp and suffocating.
They knew where she was.
They'd been watching.
They wanted me scared.
And they had succeeded.
My hands trembled as I lowered the phone, my breath jagged in my throat.
And suddenly, the beautiful penthouse felt like glass walls closing in.