Chapter 24: Chapter 23 Buyer’s Remorse
Anastelle didn’t just walk into her new bedroom; she practically exploded into it.
"Mommy! The bed is bigger than Auntie Giulia’s whole room!" she shrieked, kicking off her shoes and launching herself directly onto the canopy mattress.
She didn’t stay there for more than two seconds before she scrambled off.
"Mommy! There’s another bathroom in here! Just for me!"
"Mommy! Look at the teddy bear! He has a red ribbon!!"
She was running from corner to corner, her face completely bright, utterly consumed by the magic of her new "palace." She was just a child. She didn’t see the iron bars hidden behind the curtains. She didn’t understand the concept of being cornered, or blacklisted, or forced into a cage.
I stood right by the doorway, my arms folded tightly across my chest.
She’s happy, I thought, biting my lip. She’s genuinely happy because she has no idea we’re essentially his prisoners.
I wanted to drag her out of here, but looking at her glowing face, I knew I had nowhere else to take her tonight. Laziel had calculated everything perfectly.
A half-hour later, Anastelle was changed into a fresh pair of pajamas, but the bedtime routine hit a wall.
A young maid emerged from the room, holding a tray with a glass of warm milk. She looked completely stressed. She walked down the hallway to where the head housekeeper was standing with me.
"The... the Princess refuses to drink her milk," the maid whispered, her voice trembling slightly as if she had just failed a major security mission.
I couldn’t help it. I rolled my eyes and leaned against the wall. "See? Even multi-billionaires can’t make a four-year-old drink milk when she doesn’t want to."
The housekeeper sighed, looking toward the grand staircase. "Should we just throw it away and try juice?"
"No," a deep, smooth voice echoed from the stairs.
We all froze as Laziel walked up the stairs.
The maid holding the tray looked like she wanted the floor to swallow her whole. The terrifying, ruthless CEO of Monroe Holdings was personally walking into a kids’ wing... because of a glass of milk?
Laziel pushed the door open and walked into the bedroom. I followed right behind him, determined to protect my daughter if he decided to intimidate a toddler.
Anastelle was sitting cross-legged on the center of the giant bed, her arms folded over her chest, her bottom lip pouted out.
"I don’t like milk," she barked, glaring up at him.
Laziel stopped at the edge of the bed. He didn’t look angry; his face was just a completely blank slate. "Drink it."
"No."
"You’ll grow."
"I’m already growing," Anastelle countered instantly, tilting her chin up.
I almost had to hide a laugh. This man spent his entire life staring down international boards of directors and crushing business rivals without breaking a sweat. Now, he was locked in a dead-end negotiation with a four-year-old in pink pajamas.
Anastelle squinted her green eyes at him, looking at the glass in the maid’s hand, then back to Laziel. "If Snack Man drinks first."
Beside me, the maid gasped quietly. The housekeeper looked like she was about to faint. Nobody offered Laziel Monroe their leftovers, and nobody asked him to taste-test warm milk. I braced myself for him to finally snap and tell her to go to sleep.
Instead, Laziel didn’t even hesitate.
He reached out, took the glass from the tray, and lifted it to his lips. He took a sip and handed the glass right back to the maid.
"Done," he said.
Anastelle’s entire face beamed. "Okay!"
She scrambled forward, grabbed the glass with both hands, and started chugging the rest of it without a single complaint.
Behind us, the staff members looked like they were genuinely questioning their own reality. Laziel had just been completely dismantled by a toddler’s loophole.
I watched the whole exchange from the corner of the room, my mind completely spinning.
Laziel didn’t say another word. Once the glass was empty, he simply turned around and walked out of the room.
I tucked Anastelle into the bed, kissed her forehead, and waited until her breathing slowed down into a deep sleep. But even after she was completely out, I couldn’t shake the confusion gripping my chest.
Why was he doing this? He wasn’t a kind man. He had just destroyed my entire stability to force me under his roof. He was ruthless, calculating, and cold. But around Anastelle, something shifted. It wasn’t that he was suddenly "nice"—his voice was still icy —but he was different. He didn’t push her away. He let her pull his finger, he let her dictate prehistoric history, and he drank her milk just to make her obey.
It didn’t make any sense, and the mystery of it was making my head ache.
...
I should have been asleep.
The room was warmer than any place I’d ever lived. The mattress seemed to mold itself around my body, the pillows soft enough to disappear beneath my head.
Everything was perfect.
That was the problem.
I wasn’t used to perfect.
I lay flat on my back, staring at the intricately carved ceiling above me. Moonlight spilled through the enormous windows, painting silver patterns across the floors that probably cost more than every piece of furniture I’d ever owned combined.
Not a single sound came from outside.
No neighbours arguing through paper-thin walls.
No buses rattling past cracked apartment windows.
No dripping tap.
No barking dogs.
No sirens.
Just silence.
The kind of silence only rich people could afford.
I slowly turned onto my side.
The sheets still smelled new.
Everything in this room smelled new.
The wardrobe.
The curtains.
The books.
Even the pajamas folded neatly on the chair had probably never been touched before tonight.
None of it belonged to me.
None of it ever would.
I wasn’t a guest.
I wasn’t family.
I wasn’t even an employee anymore.
I was a woman with nowhere else to go.
My eyes drifted toward the bedroom door.
Just beyond that hallway...
Directly opposite mine...
...was Laziel Monroe’s bedroom.
The realization made my stomach tighten all over again.
One hallway.
One door separating us.
If I opened mine, his would be the first thing I’d see.
How was anyone supposed to sleep knowing the man who had dismantled your entire life in less than twenty-four hours was only a few steps away?
I let out a slow breath and closed my eyes.
Sleep refused to come.
Every time I started drifting off, another thought dragged me awake.
Giulia.
Our apartment.
Tomorrow.
What exactly had I agreed to?
And why...
Why did Laziel look at Anastelle like she was the only person in the room who wasn’t afraid of him?
That question refused to leave my head.
With a frustrated sigh, I carefully slipped out of bed, making sure not to wake Anastelle sleeping peacefully in the adjoining room.
Maybe fresh air would do what sleep couldn’t.
I eased the bedroom door shut behind me as quietly as I could.
The hallway stretched endlessly in both directions, illuminated only by soft golden wall lamps.
I wrapped my arms around myself and wandered without any real destination in mind. Every few steps, another painting hung on the walls, another antique vase stood on a pedestal, another doorway disappeared into darkness.
This place was a maze.
I eventually noticed a pair of glass doors standing slightly open at the end of the corridor. A cool breeze drifted through the gap.
Fresh air.
Exactly what I needed.
I stepped outside.
The night was cool against my skin.
Moonlight washed over perfectly trimmed hedges, fountains, and gardens so meticulously maintained they looked painted rather than real.
The city lights glittered far beyond the estate walls, distant enough to remind me just how isolated this place truly was.
I slowly exhaled.
For the first time all day...
I could breathe.
Or so I thought.
Movement caught the corner of my eye.
Someone was already there.
At the far end of the terrace, standing with his back to me, was Laziel.
He simply stood there, staring into the darkness beyond the gardens as though the entire estate had disappeared around him.
He looked...
Alone.
The realization caught me off guard.
Even surrounded by unimaginable wealth, he somehow made the palace feel empty.
I frowned.
No.
I wasn’t going to feel sorry for him.
Not after everything he’d done.
Quietly, I took one step backward.
Then another.
I turned, intending to slip back inside before he noticed me.
"You’ve been watching me for exactly forty-three seconds."
My feet stopped moving.
My heart lurched.
I hadn’t made a sound.
Slowly, Laziel lifted a glass to his lips.
He still hadn’t turned around.
"Insomnia, Miss Brenner..." he said calmly.
"...or buyer’s remorse?"
