The morning in Serelis was gray, the kind of dawn where the sun seemed reluctant to rise, just as Lilith Steele felt reluctant to face another day. She dragged herself out of bed with a dull headache, her limbs still heavy from the exhaustion of the past days. Her father's cruelty lingered in her mind like a festering wound, each memory replaying in fragments—his harsh words, his threats, his callousness.
No matter how many times she tried to push it aside, the reality was clear: she was nothing to him. Nothing but a pawn, nothing but a reminder of his disappointments.
At work, things weren't easier. Cheryl, her immediate superior, wasted no opportunity to turn her day sour.
"Steele," Cheryl's sharp voice cut through the office, "you're late with the reports again. Do you want to embarrass this department? If you cannot keep up, perhaps you should reconsider your position here."
The room went silent. Colleagues exchanged awkward glances but said nothing. Lilith's cheeks burned, but she swallowed her words. To speak back would only invite more humiliation. So she kept her eyes down and responded softly, "Yes, ma'am. I'll fix it immediately."
Cheryl smirked, satisfied with her dominance, and walked away, her heels clacking like a victory march.
Lilith returned to her desk, hands trembling. She wanted to scream, to cry, but instead, she buried herself in the pile of documents, her pen scratching angrily against the paper. She had learned long ago that anger didn't protect her—it only drew more lashes. Still, the resentment inside her chest grew thicker each day, pressing against her ribs like a storm begging to break free.
By lunchtime, her phone buzzed with a notification. Against her better judgment, she opened it. On the small screen, a video clip from a Serelis social column played automatically. There was Maria—her sister—radiant in a sleek gown at a high-society luncheon. Robert Steele stood beside her, smiling proudly as cameras flashed, the two of them painted as a picture of power and elegance.
The caption read: "The Steele family, once on shaky ground, shows strength through their brilliant daughter Maria Steele, rumored to be forging new connections with Serelis' elite."
Lilith's heart clenched. She stared at the screen until her vision blurred, bile rising in her throat. Maria basked in glory while she, the other daughter, was drowning quietly, unseen, unloved. For once she almost wanted to smash her phone against the desk, but instead, she turned it off and shoved it in her drawer, forcing herself to keep her composure.
When the day finally ended, Lilith felt drained beyond words. Instead of returning directly home, she went to the hospital where her mother lay still in a coma. The sterile smell of antiseptic greeted her as she slipped into the quiet ward.
"Mother…" Her voice cracked as she sat beside the bed, gently taking her mother's cold hand into her own. "I don't know how much more I can take. Father hates me. He—he treats me like I don't exist, except when he needs someone to threaten. Maria… she's everything he wants. I'm nothing." Tears slid silently down her cheeks as she rested her head against the bed. "But I'll endure it all, if it means keeping you alive. You're all I have left."
She stayed like that for a while, whispering secrets into ears that could not respond, pouring out pain into the silence of the room.
By the time she left the hospital, the sky had darkened. The city lights of Serelis glimmered like false stars, cold and unfeeling. Lilith trudged home, dragging her tired body up the steps to her apartment.
Her breath caught when she saw it—a bouquet of white lilies, tied neatly with a black ribbon, placed at her doorstep.
She froze. Her eyes darted around the hallway, but it was empty. Carefully, she bent down and picked it up. There was no note, no card. Only the flowers, fragrant and pristine. Her heart thumped erratically in her chest. She didn't know why, but something about the bouquet made her feel seen, exposed, as if someone had reached into her private thoughts.
Her mind flashed back to the black car she had noticed days ago. The piercing gaze she had felt in the pharmacy. She shook her head quickly, trying to dismiss it as paranoia, but her hands refused to stop trembling as she carried the bouquet inside.
That night, she tried to convince herself that she was imagining things. Yet, as she cooked herself a simple meal and ate in silence, she couldn't shake the feeling of eyes watching her. By the time she drifted to sleep, exhaustion had beaten fear into submission, though her mind was restless with unease.
---
Across the city, in a towering skyscraper cloaked in shadow, Rhett Barone sat in his private study. The room was silent except for the faint ticking of a clock and the glow of a desk lamp that cast sharp shadows across his cold features.
Steve stood before him, head slightly bowed, reporting the latest movements.
"Robert Steele is flailing, sir. He's grasping at anything that might connect him to the Barones. Maria Steele is spreading word that she can open doors into the family's circle. Investors are listening. They believe her."
Rhett leaned back, his dark eyes narrowing. A thin smile tugged at his lips, cold and humorless. "Maria Steele… a child boasting of doors she's never seen." His voice dripped with amusement, though beneath it, the steel edge of disdain cut sharp.
"And Lilith?" he asked, his tone shifting, quieter but infinitely heavier.
Steve hesitated. "She… she returned home tonight. A delivery was made."
Rhett's fingers tightened on the crystal glass he held, the ice inside clinking. "Good. She should know she's being watched. She should feel it in her bones. Let her paranoia build until she understands—she's never alone."
He set the glass down and pulled out a photograph of Lilith from his desk drawer. His thumb brushed against her image with a touch that was disturbingly gentle, reverent even, though his eyes burned with something far from tenderness.
"They run in circles for the Barones," Rhett murmured, his voice low, intimate, as though speaking only to the woman in the picture. "But she already belongs to one. My little Steele doesn't even realize it yet."
Steve bowed and excused himself quickly, leaving Rhett alone in the heavy silence of the room.
The clock ticked on, but Rhett remained still, staring at Lilith's photo, consumed by obsession that no amount of time could quench.
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