Chapter 54 Chapter 55

Chapter 54 Chapter 55
Leah POV

It had been two days. Two long, frustrating days, and Luciano hadn’t returned. Not a call, not a message, nothing. It felt like I was being ignored, like I didn’t exist to him anymore, and that thought alone made something burn inside me. I kept replaying everything I saw, over and over again, like my mind refused to let it go. It was supposed to be simple.

A calm dinner. A quiet morning. Something normal between us. But the moment Valerie came into it, everything changed. The way he looked at her, the way his attention shifted like I wasn’t even there anymore, it stayed with me. I had tried to stop him, tried to distract him, tried to remind him of me, but he didn’t listen. He still went to her room. I saw it with my own eyes.

The way he reached out to her, the way he touched her hair so gently like she was something precious. That moment wouldn’t leave my head. It kept repeating, making my chest tighten every time I thought about it.

My thoughts grew worse the longer I stayed alone. Was it all a joke? Was he playing with me this whole time? Was Luciano taking me for granted again, like I meant nothing? Or was I the one who didn’t understand what was really happening?

The questions wouldn’t stop. They kept building until I couldn’t breathe properly. Was he using me? Was I just someone he kept close while his heart belonged somewhere else? I hated that thought. I hated how real it felt. But I wasn’t going to accept it. I refused to be pushed aside like I didn’t matter.

I wasn’t weak, and I wasn’t someone to be used. If Valerie was the problem, then she needed to be removed. Simple. She was the only thing standing between me and Luciano. Even though I had managed to come back into his life, I could feel it clearly, I didn’t have his heart. Not fully. And that was something I couldn’t accept. I wasn’t anyone’s pawn, and I wouldn’t let myself become one.

I moved around the kitchen, trying to distract myself, trying to calm the storm in my head. I started preparing food, not because I wanted to eat, but because I needed something to do with my hands. The silence in the house felt heavy, pressing down on me. I packed everything neatly into a lunch box, my movements sharp and controlled.

If Luciano wasn’t coming to me, then I would go to him. I needed to see him, to look him in the eyes and know the truth. I needed answers, and I wasn’t going to sit here waiting anymore. Just as I finished, she walked in. Valerie. She didn’t even look at me. Not once. Like I didn’t exist. She walked straight to the fridge, picked up a bottle of water, and turned to leave without saying a word. That alone irritated me more than anything else. The way she acted so calm, so unbothered, like she had already won, made something snap inside me.

“You should start counting your days in this house, Valerie,” I said sharply. “Why are you still here? Just leave.” She paused for a moment, and I thought she would say something, but instead, she just glanced at me briefly and continued walking like my words meant nothing.

That was enough. The anger inside me exploded before I could control it. I grabbed a glass cup and threw it at her, expecting it to hit her, expecting some kind of reaction. But she caught it. Just like that. Mid-air. My breath caught in my throat as I watched her. She didn’t flinch.

She didn’t panic. Slowly, she bent down and placed the glass on the counter like nothing had happened, then straightened up and started walking toward me.Something about that moment made my heart race. It wasn’t just anger anymore. There was something else there.

Something I didn’t want to admit. I stepped back quickly and grabbed a knife from the counter, pointing it at her. “Stay back,” I snapped. “Don’t play with me, Valerie.” But she didn’t stop. She didn’t even react to the knife. She just walked past me like I wasn’t a threat, like I wasn’t even worth acknowledging.

That alone made my grip tighten. She picked up an apple, letting out a quiet scoff, and turned to leave. But then she stopped halfway. Slowly, she turned back to face me, her expression calm, too calm, like nothing I had done mattered.

“I’ll ignore this madness for now,” she said quietly. “Until whatever is between Luciano and me is over.” My chest tightened as I stared at her. Her eyes didn’t leave mine. “And when it is,” she continued, her voice steady, “I’ll come for you.” A chill ran through me. “I’ll break every bone in your body, and I won’t leave anything behind.” I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. It wasn’t the words alone that affected me. It was the way she said them.

Like it was already decided. Like it was something she would actually do. She wasn’t bluffing. That was what made it worse. That was what made my body freeze where I stood.

She turned and walked away like nothing had happened, like she hadn’t just shaken me completely. I stood there, still holding the knife, my heart beating faster than I wanted to admit. The silence returned, but it didn’t feel the same anymore. It felt heavier, My thoughts were no longer as confident as they had been before. Who was she really? I had thought she was just another girl, someone easy to push aside, someone I could break without effort. But now, I wasn’t so sure.

There was something about her, something hidden beneath that calm expression, something vicious that I hadn’t noticed before. And for the first time since I entered into this mansion, I realized something I didn’t like at all, I might have underestimated her.