Chapter 6

Lila slipped the silk robe off her shoulders and let it slide down her body, pooling at her feet like water. The cool air in the apartment kissed her bare skin. She didn’t flinch.

She never needed clothes to make a statement.

She moved toward the balcony, her steps silent on the polished floor. When she reached the doorway, Ethan turned slightly, sensing her before he saw her.

His eyes dipped once, just once, before returning to hers. And that was all it took.

“I’m tired of talking about her,” Lila said, voice low and sultry. “You should be too.”

Ethan’s jaw tightened. “This isn’t the time.”

“Maybe not for guilt,” she replied, stepping into his space, brushing her body against his arm. “But it’s the perfect time for forgetting.”

She reached up, fingers threading through his hair, guiding his mouth down to hers.

He hesitated, just a breath. Then he gave in.

The kiss was hard. Hungry. Born of pressure, not passion. Teeth and tongue and tension. It wasn’t romantic. It wasn’t tender.

It was war.

He backed her into the glass, his hands roaming her waist, gripping, anchoring. She gasped against his mouth, biting his lip. He responded with a growl from deep in his chest.

They were fire and fuel. Lust laced with resentment. Lovers tangled in a lie too elaborate to escape.

Lila didn’t care that his kisses were rough.

She wanted it that way.

Because if she couldn't have his soul, she'd take his body. Again and again. Until he forgot Serena Lin's name. Or at least, until Lila could erase it from the parts of him that mattered.

Ethan lifted her effortlessly, her legs wrapping around his waist as he carried her through the open space to the bedroom. The city lights followed them like silent witnesses, painting their bodies in shadows and gold.

When he laid her on the bed, it wasn’t with reverence.

It was with ownership.

Their mouths collided again, hands slipping over skin slick with heat and wine. Lila arched under him, nails dragging down his back as he pressed into her, each movement fast, fevered, driven by the need to feel something.

Anything.

Every thrust was a declaration.

We’re still in control. We own the board.

And Lila believed it. For a little while.

Their bodies moved in rhythm, lost in sweat and sound. The world outside ceased to matter. There was no Serena. No betrayal. No suspicion hanging over their heads like a guillotine.

There was only now.

Only them.

Only this twisted version of love they’d made.

Afterward, Ethan collapsed beside her, chest heaving, his arm thrown over his eyes like he couldn't bear to look at the ceiling, like it reminded him of what they’d done.

Or maybe who they weren’t doing it with.

Lila rolled onto her side and traced the lines of his collarbone, the scratches she’d left blooming red against his skin.

“She doesn’t know how to touch you like I do,” she whispered.

Ethan didn’t respond.

“She never saw you like this. Not the real you.”

Still nothing.

Lila’s fingers stilled. “You’re thinking about her.”

“No,” he said quickly, too quickly. “I’m thinking about the damage.”

“Damage?”

“If she’s really in touch with Lucien, this isn’t just personal anymore,” he muttered, finally sitting up. “This could ruin us.”

Lila sat up too, pulling the sheet over herself, eyes sharp now. “Then we stay ahead of her. Discredit her if we have to. Freeze her out. Buy off anyone who would take her seriously.”

“She’s already making calls,” Ethan said. “And she’s not naive anymore.”

Lila narrowed her eyes. “Then we become what she thinks we are. Villains. Cold. Ruthless. Strategic.”

She placed a hand on his chest, her voice dropping again. “But we’re in this together. Remember that.”

Ethan looked at her, really looked at her this time. The woman who had schemed at his side for a year. The one who helped him dismantle Serena’s trust.

And for the first time, he wondered if Lila would turn on him just as easily.

But he didn’t voice it. He just lay back down, letting silence stretch between them.

The night outside shimmered. Somewhere in the city, Serena was plotting her next move. And in Lila’s bed, the lovers who betrayed her were tangled in sheets and secrets.

But they were no longer sure who was really in control.

..........................

Serena Lin's POV

The morning came in fragments.

Warm sun bled through the heavy velvet curtains. My limbs ached, not from exhaustion, but from the pressure of holding myself together for far too long. The kind of ache that settles in your bones when you're no longer angry, just done.

Last night replayed in flashes.

Lucien Feng. That glint in his eyes as he leaned in, cocky, calculating. The press of his mouth against mine, the thrill I didn’t expect, the disgust that followed. The tension. The vow I made: I’ll never fall for someone like you.

Then I walked out of his penthouse, chin high, heart calm.

For the first time in my life, I felt untouchable.

But the peace lasted less than twelve hours.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Someone was pounding on my bedroom door. I jolted upright, my mind still foggy, clutching the sheets to my chest.

“Serena!” my mother’s voice called sharply from the hallway. “Open this door right now!”

I groaned and staggered out of bed, pulling on a robe. “Mom, it’s barely eight...”

The door burst open.

She was fully dressed, pearls at her neck trembling with every sharp breath. Her heels clicked furiously against the hardwood as she marched in with her phone in hand.

“Explain this.” She thrust the screen at me.

Still squinting, I leaned forward.

A blurry photo filled the headline space, me stepping into a black car, Lucien’s tall frame following behind, his hand suspiciously low on my back. Another photo: him reaching to touch my arm, my lips parted in surprise.

Is this Serena Lin’s new groom?

Heiress ditches wedding and enters a room with billionaire rival Lucien Feng.

My mouth went dry.