The next day, sunlight streamed over Veyrantis, gilding its marble towers and hidden veins of power. Yet beneath its brilliance, tension coiled like a snake ready to strike.
Darius Nyx Vale was not a man who believed in coincidence. Every step of his empire had been carved with blood, sweat, and ruthless calculation. But this—these silver-haired children in his life, and the woman who appeared from fire to cradle them—it reeked of something more. Something dangerous.
And he could not allow danger near his children.
"Have her followed," he ordered his aide curtly. "Every move. Every breath."
The aide hesitated. "Sir, that woman is…Aresha Lilith Silas."
The name itself carried weight. To speak it aloud in business circles was akin to whispering the name of death.
Darius's dark eyes narrowed."I know exactly who she is."
He didn't believe in gods. But if there were devils walking this earth—Aresha Silas was one of them.
Elsewhere, in the of the Silas estate, Aresha herself was not untouched by unease. She had spent the morning reviewing intelligence reports from Nine Cloud Abyssal, her mind sharp, her hands steady—yet every now and then, her thoughts drifted.
To silver-haired children with stubborn voices and curious gazes.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. She despised weakness, and distraction was weakness. Still, when her hand brushed against her tea cup, she caught herself whispering—"Saleena…"
The sound of the name on her tongue startled her so much she set the cup down too hard, porcelain cracking.
This could not happen. She could not let them under her skin.
But fate, it seemed, had other designs.
By late afternoon, she stepped into the Silas private library to retrieve a ledger. To her annoyance, she found the space already occupied.
Darius stood by the tall windows, his presence stark against the wash of golden light. His coat was discarded on the chair, his shirt sleeves rolled up, veins stark against tanned skin. He looked out of place in her world of marble and secrets, yet utterly immovable—like he owned the ground he stood upon.
"How did you get in here?" Aresha's tone was sharp, cold, though her pulse quickened.
Darius turned, his gaze as unreadable as always, but sharp as knives."Your security is impressive. Mine is better."
Her jaw tightened. "Vale."
He stepped closer, slow and deliberate, as if testing her patience."You expect me to sit idle when my children return smelling of smoke, clinging to you as if you were—" He cut himself off, the word mother lingering unsaid, heavy in the space between them.
Aresha's lips curved into a mocking smile. "Careful. You almost sound jealous."
For a man so composed, the flicker in Darius's eyes was telling."Jealous?" His voice was low. "No, Silas. Suspicious."
She met his gaze, like storm."You want the truth? Fine. I don't like children. I don't want children. But they seem determined to like me."
The truth slipped past her defenses before she could bite it back.
Darius studied her, and for a flicker of a moment, she saw it—the raw fear behind his control. Fear not of her, but of what losing those children might do to him.
"Stay away from them." His voice was steel.
Aresha tilted her head, eyes narrowing. Then, with a dangerous softness, she whispered:"Tell them that yourself."
She brushed past him, her dress grazing his arm—a fleeting touch that made his entire body tense, as though she'd struck him. She didn't look back, though her lips twitched at the corner.
Because for once, she wasn't entirely sure who had won.
Outside the library, down the grand halls of the Silas estate, two small figures peeked from behind a column—Draven holding Saleena back from running in.
Saleena pouted. "Mama's here again."
Draven's calm voice followed, firm for his age."She said she isn't Mama."
Saleena only grinned, mischievous, her little silver hair catching the light."Then why does she look like us?"