The estate felt quieter the moment Cassian left.
No more perfectly timed footsteps in the hall.
No subtle glances across the room.
No invisible tension that buzzed between them like static on silk.
Lisa stood at the balcony of the guest wing, watching the taillights of the Filmont car vanish through the gilded gates.
She stayed there long after the guards returned to their posts.
"So that's it," she whispered. "Back to playing Selène. Alone."
The wind tugged at the edge of her robe as she turned, walking slowly through the private corridor — past antique paintings and flower arrangements too expensive to smell.
In her room, she didn't turn on the lights.
She needed the quiet.
Needed the space.
The stillness.
She sat on the edge of the bed, slipped off her shoes, and stared at the fireplace. No fire. Just the faint outline of ashes long cold.
"This isn't a story anymore," she murmured. "It's a cage... dressed like a kingdom."
Her thoughts circled — tighter and tighter.
Cassian.
His father.
Lady Montclair's rehearsed smiles.
The "engagement" being sold like a press release.
"And me," she thought, "the uninvited plot twist in a drama I didn't write."
Her fingers itched. She opened a drawer near the nightstand. Found a pen.
Found a blank leather journal with Selène's initials on it.
She hesitated only a second before writing:
"Selène Montclair is dead.
Lisa is pretending to be her.
And no one suspects a thing.
Yet."
She paused. Then added:
"Cassian… might."
Scene Cutaway: Somewhere Else in the House
Lady Montclair stood in her study, arms crossed, speaking to someone on an encrypted call.
"No. She's adapting too fast," she said. "Not just surviving. Calculating. I don't like it."
A beat of static.
"No. Don't intervene. Not yet.
Let's see what happens…
when she thinks she's in control."
Back in Lisa's Room
She closed the journal. Tossed it gently on the bed.
Tomorrow, the act would resume.
The hair, the voice, the posture.
But for tonight?
Lisa let herself be… Lisa.
And for the first time since falling into this world, she allowed herself a fragile, fleeting moment of fear.
What if she was becoming Selène…
without even noticing?