Ava had always been careful.
She had to be. Every moment in the mansion was a dance on a razor's edge. one misstep and everything would come crashing down.
But today… she slipped.
It started with a phone call.
She had snuck away to a quiet corner of the laundry wing, her phone clutched tightly to her ear.
"Mommy?" her son's tiny voice whispered. "Are you coming home today?"
Ava's eyes filled with tears instantly. "Not yet, baby. But soon. I promise."
"I drew a picture for Daddy. Do you think he'll like it?"
Her throat closed.
She'd told him Lucien was away on a 'long trip', that Daddy was busy but would come back someday.
Now, that lie was starting to ache.
"I think he'd love it," she whispered.
Just then, footsteps.
Ava hung up fast.
She turned, too fast and bumped directly into Madam Clarisse Blackwell.
Lucien's mother.
The woman who hated her before she ever married into the family.
Her cold, sharp eyes narrowed instantly.
"What are you doing in this part of the house?" Clarisse asked, voice like silk wrapped around steel.
"I was… just delivering fresh sheets, Madam," Ava said quickly, holding up a random pillowcase.
Clarisse stared at her. "I don't recognize you."
"I'm new, ma'am. Hired after… after the accident."
Clarisse took a step forward, studying Ava like a predator eyeing weak prey. "You look… familiar."
Ava's stomach flipped.
"Do you have a name?" the woman asked.
"Ava," she replied before realizing, too late that she should've used the alias the head maid gave her. Anna.
Clarisse's eyes sharpened. "Ava, is it?"
There was a long, heavy pause.
"I once knew a woman named Ava," Clarisse said slowly. "She was trouble."
Ava lowered her gaze. "I'll finish the sheets now, Madam."
She turned, heart pounding, every nerve on fire. As she walked away, she could feel Clarisse's gaze burning into her back.
She ducked into Lucien's private study to catch her breath.
But she wasn't alone.
Lucien stood by the bookshelf, leafing through old financial ledgers. When he looked up and saw her, his brows drew together.
"You again."
"I, I'm sorry, sir. I thought this room was empty"
"You said your name was Ava."
Her heart stopped.
"What?"
"My mother just told me something strange." He closed the book and walked toward her. "She said the name Ava reminded her of someone."
Ava's pulse thundered.
Lucien studied her in silence.
"You know what's odd?" he said. "That name feels… like a ghost in my head."
She tried to keep her face calm. "Maybe it's just a coincidence."
"Maybe." He stepped closer. "But you're full of those, aren't you?"
Ava's breath hitched. "What do you mean?"
"You show up the day I wake from a coma. You seem terrified of me, but you won't quit. You act like a stranger, but somehow... I trust you."
Silence.
"I don't know who you really are," he said, voice low. "But I'm going to find out."
He turned and walked out, leaving her alone.
Ava sank into the nearest chair, her hands shaking.
She had almost been caught, by both of them.
And now, the walls were closing in.