Chapter 3 - SHADOWS IN THE MANSION
The days following the gala were thick with tension. Elias was confined to bed rest in the east wing, his heart struggling under the weight of decades-old guilt. Claire continued her duties, though the other staff treated her with a mixture of awe and terror.
Late one evening, while polishing the oak wainscoting in the library, Claire felt a presence behind her. She didn't turn around. “You move very quietly for a man who owns the world, Mr. Archer.”
Nathan stepped out of the shadows. Without his tuxedo, dressed in a simple black sweater, he looked less like a billionaire and more like the exhausted man she had seen at the gala. “My grandfather wants to see you. But before that, I need to know who you really are, Claire. I ran a background check. You don’t exist before the age of eighteen.”
Claire turned to face him, the polishing cloth still in her hand. “Because before I was eighteen, I lived entirely off the grid in a cabin with my grandfather. We had no electricity, no bank accounts. Just the mountain, the river, and the Stillwater discipline.”
Nathan took a step closer. The proximity was magnetic. Claire felt a sudden, strange fluttering in her chest—a stark contrast to the absolute control she maintained over her body. “Why are you working as a housekeeper?” he asked, his gaze dropping to her lips before meeting her eyes again.
“To pay off his medical debt,” she replied. “He got sick. The real world doesn’t accept martial arts forms as currency.”
“I can pay it,” Nathan offered immediately. “Every cent.”
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“I don’t want your money, Nathan.” It was the first time she used his first name.
Before Nathan could respond, a floorboard creaked in the hallway. Claire’s instincts flared. She moved swiftly to the door, pulling it open. The corridor was empty, but she caught the distinct scent of Vivienne’s signature perfume lingering in the cold air. They were being watched.
