Lila’s POV
Zoe was leaning against the doorfra, arms crossed, her eyes lighting up. "Ha! I knew it!"
She circled once, nodding in satisfaction. "Perfect! And with this platinum chain—" She took a delicate platinum necklace with a small Wolf Head Pendant from her neck and fastened it around mine before I could say a word. "And these silver sandals—" She handed a pair of simple, strappy silver sandals. "All set!"
I looked down at the small Wolf Head Pendant on my chest. Its lines were sharp and cold, and it cast a faint but resolute gleam in the morning light.
"Let’s go," Zoe said, linking her arm with mine, her smile radiant. "Let’s show the world the two mistresses of the Mommy."
The private pier at Jade Sea Bay was even more solemn than usual.
A long red carpet stretched from the main road all the way to the end of the pier. On either side stood two rows of guards in dark gray uniforms. They stood perfectly straight, like two rows of silent bronze statues. The silver Wolf Head Badge on their epaulets reflected the harsh glare of the midday sun.
Zoe walked with , arm-in-arm, as we stepped onto the red carpet and proceeded toward the pier.
Our footsteps were light, yet they seed to echo in everyone’s eardrums.
I could feel the gazes of the guards fall on in unison. There was no curiosity, no scrutiny—only a pure, almost reverent focus. Their stares felt like an invisible barrier, protecting securely at its center.
Zoe’s voice, light and clear, sounded in my ear. "See this? This is a real honor guard. They’re not welcoming a guest. They’re welcoming... a master who has returned to her rightful place."
I nodded without saying a word.
I simply straightened my back and t the path ahead with a calm gaze.
At the end of the pier, a silver-gray yacht was moored peacefully on the azure sea. Its lines were sleek, its presence commanding. On the bow, the huge, gilt word ’MOMMY’ glittered in the sun like a silent declaration.
The captain was already waiting by the gangway. He was a powerfully built middle-aged man with a touch of frost at his temples and eyes as sharp as a hawk’s. Upon seeing us, he imdiately raised his right hand in a crisp, standard military salute, the movent imbued with an unquestionable sense of authority.
"Madam, Miss," he bood, his voice full of vigor. "The entire crew of the Mommy has been awaiting your arrival."
The mont he finished speaking, the guards behind him raised their right hands in perfect unison.
The movent was so synchronized it was like a great wall of steel rising in an instant.
I stood at the foot of the gangway, looking up at the massive yacht, at the gilt na on its bow, and at the solemn, loyal sea of dark gray before .
A strange emotion, a mixture of peace and power, slowly began to swell within .
Just then, the roar of an engine grew louder as it approached from the distance.
It was a sharp, high-pitched, ostentatious roar—like a young beast eager to declare its territory, tearing through the otherwise tranquil sea breeze over the pier.
A bright red sports car, like a searing fla, ca speeding down the winding coastal road. It didn’t slow down. Instead, in a near-provocative display, it executed a sharp drift at the end of the red carpet. The tires let out a piercing SCREECH— against the pavent, kicking up a small cloud of fine dust.
The door swung upward.
Lilith stepped out.
She had clearly made an effort to dress up today. A perfectly tailored, off-the-shoulder dress was cinched tightly at the waist, highlighting her tall and seductive figure. Her hair was pulled back in an updo, revealing a long, fair neck, and the ruby earrings she wore glittered like two small flas in the midday sun. Her makeup was flawless, applied with painstaking precision. Her lips were a sweet berry-red, and a faint, practiced smile played on her lips—one that was perfectly polite, yet distant.
But the smile was only on the surface.
Her gaze flickered past Zoe before landing on , sharp and cold as two ice-coated blades.
In that look was a naked, undisguised scrutiny and... jealousy.
Yes, jealousy.
A cold jealousy mixed with resentnt, disdain, and the sting of being utterly overshadowed.
She saw the red carpet.
She saw the two rows of guards standing like an iron wall.
And more importantly, she saw the small Wolf Head Pendant on my chest, glittering in the sun.
Compared to the ruby earrings on her lobes, the pendant’s material seed sowhat inferior.
But clearly, Lilith sensed the weight and significance the pendant represented.
Her jealousy was practically unconcealed.
At that mont, a hand in a black velvet glove ca to rest on the car’s open door.
Martha Thorne.
She was dressed discreetly today, in a pair of smoky-gray silk wide-leg trousers and an off-white cashre cardigan. Her long hair was loosely pinned back, and she wore only light makeup. Her entire deanor was gentle and serene, like a carefully frad old oil painting. As she got out of the car, her movents were light and slow, as if she were afraid of disturbing the space enveloped in sunlight and solemnity.
She didn’t look at Zoe, nor did she look at right away.
Her gaze fell first on the two rows of guards.
Her eyes were calm and focused, carrying the kind of instinctual assessnt of power distribution that only a battle-hardened veteran would possess. She narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze sweeping over the details of the silver Wolf Head Badge on their epaulets, over the muscle mory embedded in their stances—sothing that could only be ford through years of training—before finally, slowly, moving on.
Only then did she raise her eyes to look at .
Her gaze was completely different from Lilith’s.
There was no jealousy, no contempt, not even a ripple of emotion.
Only a kind of... almost cruel, pure observation.
Like an experienced hunter encountering for the first ti an unfamiliar beast with an exceptionally strange aura.
She looked at the Wolf Head Pendant on my chest, and at standing in the center of the red carpet.
Her eyes flickered, just for a fraction of a second.
It wasn’t surprise, nor was it panic.
It was... confirmation.
An intuition, sealed away for many years and carved into her very bones, was being silently reawakened in that instant.
She was reminded of thirty years ago.
It had been a road just like this one, also lined with a red carpet, leading to the brand-new, glass-walled Star Dust Creative building. Back then, Isolde Bennett had stood before her just like this, her gaze as calm and deep as two bottomless wells, and said, "This is our new office building."
And now, the aura emanating from this girl, Lila, bore a heart-stopping resemblance to the Isolde of all those years ago.
Inside her sleeve, Martha’s fingertips curled ever so slightly.
She didn’t speak, only turning her head slightly to whisper sothing only Lilith could hear:
"We’re in public. Don’t be rude."
Her voice was quiet, but it struck Lilith’s taut nerves like an invisible whip.
The smile on Lilith’s face froze for a second. She bit her lower lip, and the berry-red color seed to deepen. She stopped looking at and simply linked her arm gently with Martha’s.
"Mom, it’s not being rude," she hissed, her voice low and filled with a sharp, repressed venom. "Just look at her... standing so close to Zoe, like so kind of lapdog."
Martha frowned and spoke again. "It seems I have to teach you a lesson today."
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