The house was unnervingly quiet.
It had been days since the fire, but the weight of silence still hung thick in the air, suffocating the life that once filled the mansion. Louis sat by the grand window, his gaze fixated on the horizon, though he saw nothing. His mind was consumed by the burning memories of Daisy-the way she would laugh at his sarcasm, the warmth of her body pressed against his, the softness of her lips when they shared stolen kisses. Every detail of her, etched into his mind like a scar that wouldn’t fade.
The room, once a space filled with life and conversation, felt like a tomb. Louis hadn’t spoken since Liam had brought him back from the fire site, his silence deepening as the days dragged on. His heart throbbed with the ache of what he had lost, and the pain was unbearable, like a wound that refused to heal.
Liam had tried, more times than he cared to count, to break through his brother’s wall of grief. But Louis wasn’t himself-not anymore.
“Dammit, Louis!” Liam’s voice was thick with frustration as he stormed into the room. “You’ve got to snap out of this. I get it, okay? You loved her. But while you’re sitting here drowning in your misery, you’re forgetting about me. I fucking lost my own sister.”
Louis didn’t flinch at the words. His eyes stayed distant, like he was lost in a world where only Daisy existed.
Liam’s voice cracked as he continued, desperation creeping into his tone. “I lost her too, Louis. I lost Daisy! So stop wallowing in this goddamn guilt and get your head out of your ass!”
The words hit Louis like a slap. It wasn’t the anger in Liam’s voice that made him react, but the quiet truth behind them. His little sister. Daisy had been his world, but she had been Liam’s too. The thought that his grief was causing his best friend so much pain made Louis finally stir.
He blinked slowly, his hands curling into fists on his lap. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Instead, he stood up slowly, his eyes still distant, still holding that empty, broken look. He turned and walked out of the room, leaving Liam standing there, helpless and frustrated.
It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t close to being enough.
Across town, Ezekiel Chen sat in his lavish penthouse, the lights dimmed, the room eerily quiet. He leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the wall. His reflection in the glass was a mere shadow of the man he once was. The arrogance, the control-gone, replaced with a suffocating guilt that weighed him down.
I failed her.
The words echoed in his mind, relentless. Daisy, the one woman who had captured his attention, his heart, had slipped through his fingers. He had been so sure of his plan-so confident that he could protect her. And yet, despite all the resources at his disposal, despite his best efforts, she had died in that fire.
He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. The pain of her loss was too much to bear, and the guilt gnawed at him like a constant, biting ache.
Ezekiel’s mind replayed every moment with her-the way she had looked with that playful glint in her eye, the way her laughter had filled his soul with warmth. He had never once allowed himself to feel like this before-vulnerable, broken.
Yet now, as he stood at the precipice of his own guilt and despair, he realized one undeniable truth: his obsession with Daisy had only ever grown, no matter how much he tried to deny it. She was the one thing he could never have, and that made him crave her even more.
Meanwhile, across the city in the shadows, Natalie sat in her darkened office, a smile creeping across her lips as she observed the fallout from the fire. Her plan had worked-Daisy was gone, and now, nothing stood between her and Louis.
Her heart pounded with excitement. She had waited for so long, and now the pieces of her plan were falling into place. Daisy had been nothing but an obstacle-a perfect, shiny object that Louis could never let go of. But Natalie was patient. She had waited for her chance to eliminate the one thing standing in the way of her dreams.
As she scrolled through the news reports and read the headlines that labeled Daisy’s death as an accident, Natalie couldn’t suppress the thrill that coursed through her. Her victory was complete, and the next step was clear: Louis.
She had always known he was hers-he just hadn’t realized it yet. But now, with Daisy gone, the stage was set for Natalie to make her move.
A knock on her door pulled her out of her thoughts. She turned to see one of her associates standing there, a sly smile on his face.
“Is everything in place?” she asked coldly, her voice dripping with a sense of authority.
“Yes, Miss Natalie,” he replied. “Louis is vulnerable. He’ll be more open to your advances now. All we have to do is wait.”
Natalie’s smile widened. “I won’t have to wait long. Louis will be mine.”
Her heart fluttered with excitement at the thought. Daisy was dead. And Louis-he would be hers.
Back at the mansion, Louis stood in front of the window, gazing at the empty night sky. His mind was still consumed by Daisy-the life they could have had, the moments they would never share. Every memory of her tore him apart, leaving him in pieces.
The quiet of the house suffocated him. Without Daisy, the place felt hollow, a shadow of what it had once been.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. He glanced down at the screen, his heart skipping a beat as he saw her name-Daisy’s name. But it was impossible. She was gone. She couldn’t be calling him.
Louis’s heart pounded in his chest as he answered the call, his voice hoarse. “Daisy?”
But the voice on the other end wasn’t Daisy’s. It was a cold, hollow tone-one he recognized all too well.
“Louis,” Natalie purred. “It’s time for you to realize that I’m the one who belongs by your side. Not her.”
A chill ran through Louis’s body. He couldn’t hide the anger rising within him, but more than that, it was the pain-the gut-wrenching pain of knowing that he had lost everything, and the cruel reminder that Natalie, in all her selfishness, was now the one who thought she could replace Daisy.
As the call ended, Louis slammed the phone down, his heart filled with a burning rage that couldn’t be extinguished.