The morning sunlight did nothing to warm the tension in the Blackwood mansion.
Elara sat at the dining table, untouched breakfast cooling on her plate. Dominic watched her from the opposite end — too far, yet somehow closer than anyone had ever been.
"You didn't sleep," he said.
It wasn't a question.
"I was thinking," she replied.
"About Bianca."
She swallowed.
"My stepsister coming here… isn't a good idea."
Dominic's jaw flexed — the only sign of irritation he ever showed.
"She smells weakness," he said. "Women like her don't visit. They invade."
Elara looked down at her hands.
"She'll try to ruin things," she whispered.
"What things?" Dominic asked softly.
She froze.
She didn't have an answer.
Because she didn't know what this was.
The marriage.
The dangerous comfort.
The strange safety in his presence.
Dominic stood and walked toward her, slow, deliberate. He rested a hand on the back of her chair, not touching her — just close enough for her to feel the heat of him.
"She won't get close enough to hurt you."
Elara wet her lips.
"Why do you care?"
His jaw tightened.
Then he said five words she wasn't prepared for:
"Because you're not alone anymore."
Her chest tightened.
Dangerous words.
Forbidden words.
Words he shouldn't say.
---
A knock echoed through the house.
Not the door.
The gate.
Hers.
Dominic's head turned sharply.
"She's early."
Elara's stomach twisted.
Bianca was never early for anything unless she wanted control.
They stepped outside just as Bianca's luxury car pulled up the long marble driveway.
Bianca stepped out like she was arriving on a runway — long black curls, red lips, a fitted white dress that screamed money and cruelty.
When she saw Elara, she smiled sweetly.
"Little sister."
Elara's spine locked.
Dominic moved slightly, positioning himself almost unconsciously in her space — protective, silent, cold.
Bianca's eyes flicked to him, widening a fraction.
"And you must be Dominic Blackwood," she said, extending a hand.
Dominic didn't take it.
He looked at Bianca the way a wolf studies an unfamiliar animal.
"Elara didn't mention your arrival," he said.
Bianca laughed lightly.
"She never mentions me anymore."
"Good," he replied.
The smile on Bianca's face faltered — just for an instant — then sharpened.
She walked closer to Elara.
"You look different," Bianca murmured. "Married life suits you. Though I can't tell if it's the ring… or the owner."
Elara felt Dominic stiffen beside her.
But Bianca wasn't finished.
"I'm here because we're family," she said sweetly. "And family should… reconnect."
Elara forced her voice steady.
"What do you want, Bianca?"
Bianca's smile widened — a slow, poisonous curl.
"Oh, sister… I came to see what you're hiding."
Dominic's eyes darkened.
Bianca had come not for reunion.
But for war.