Chapter 25: Chapter 24 You Didn’t Have a Life Worth Saving
"You’ve been watching me for exactly forty-three seconds."
My feet stopped moving.
I hadn’t made a sound.
Slowly, Laziel lifted the glass in his hand and took another unhurried sip. He still hadn’t turned around.
"Insomnia, Miss Brenner..." he said calmly.
"...or buyer’s remorse?"
The words rubbed every raw nerve inside me.
Buyer’s remorse? As though I’d willingly chosen any of this.
Anger quickly smothered the brief embarrassment of being caught staring.
"Neither." I said. "Just wondering how a man sleeps after stealing people’s lives for a living."
For a long moment, he didn’t answer.
Then...
"You mistake survival for a life, Miss Brenner." His voice was quiet.
I frowned.
"What?"
Only then did he slowly glance over one shoulder.
"You speak as though I stole something valuable."
His eyes met mine. "You didn’t have a life worth saving."
The words landed harder than any slap.
I opened my mouth.
Nothing came out.
Because part of me hated how close those words came to the truth.
Laziel looked away again.
"Breakfast is at seven." He spoke as though we hadn’t just torn each other apart.
"Seven sharp."
"I won’t be eating with you."
"That wasn’t a request."
He emptied the last of his drink before setting the glass on the railing.
"I dislike waiting."
Without another word, he walked back inside, leaving me standing alone beneath the moonlight.
...
The next morning...
I woke to laughter.
For one blissful second, I forgot where we were.
Then reality returned all at once.
The mansion.
Laziel.
The impossible life we’d somehow stumbled into.
I threw the blankets aside and hurried toward the adjoining bedroom.
The moment I opened the door...I froze.
Anastelle stood proudly in front of the enormous full-length mirror, turning from side to side in a beautiful pale-blue dress someone had laid out for her.
But it wasn’t the dress that stole my breath.
It was the tiara.
It rested perfectly atop her thick black curls, sparkling every time she moved.
"Mommy!"
She spun around happily.
"Look!"
I walked closer.
My fingers gently lifted the tiny crown from her head. Far too heavy to be plastic.
Were those real diamonds?
Even without money...Even without ever owning jewelry...
I knew quality when I saw it.
"Oh my God..." I whispered. "This..."
This wasn’t a toy.
The bedroom door opened.
The elderly housekeeper smiled warmly.
"I see Princess likes her morning gift."
I stared at her.
"...Gift?"
She nodded.
"Mr. Monroe instructed us to deliver it the moment she woke up."
Anastelle grinned from ear to ear.
"The nice lady brought it!"
She reached for the tiara again.
"Snack Man said I should wear it!"
She carefully placed it back on her own head before striking another dramatic pose in front of the mirror.
"It’s pretty, right Mommy?"
Pretty?
The thing probably cost more than every possession I’d ever owned.
I slowly rubbed my forehead.
This man had officially lost his mind.
...
By the time we reached the dining room, Anastelle was practically skipping.
She looked ridiculously adorable walking through a palace wearing a tiny diamond tiara.
The staff greeted her with warm smiles.
"Good morning, Princess."
"Morning, Princess."
Anastelle waved happily at every single one.
"Good morning!"
I covered my face for a second.
They were actually doing it.
Every single servant had accepted the nickname.
The enormous dining table was already set.
Laziel sat at one end, calmly reading several newspapers while drinking coffee.
He didn’t look up immediately.
Only after Anastelle climbed onto her chair did he fold one newspaper shut.
His eyes settled briefly on the tiara.
Satisfied.
Then...they shifted to me. "Eat."
"I’m not hungry."
"Be careful, Miss Brenner.....You’re beginning to mistake my patience for permission."
I didn’t want to argue with him. I was hungry anyway.
A servant placed a plate of pancakes covered in syrup in front of her. Anastelle immediately dug in.
She swallowed a bite, paused, and looked up at him. "Snack Man?"
Laziel didn’t look up. "Hmm?"
"Will there be pink dinosaurs at my new school?"
I froze, my coffee cup halfway to my mouth.
Laziel finally lowered his tablet. He looked at her completely straight-faced, his voice entirely serious. "Unlikely."
"Oh." Anastelle looked slightly disappointed, but went right back to stabbing another piece of pancake.
I set my cup down, the word new finally clicking in my brain. "Wait. What do you mean, new school?"
Laziel didn’t look at me. He picked up his espresso. "The admission process for S.t Vittoria International Academy begins today. Her paperwork is already being processed."
I stared blankly.
Even I had heard of that school.
Children of ministers.
Royal families.
Billionaires.
Diplomats.
People like us didn’t even drive past the gates.
"No. Absolutely not. She’s going back to her regular school on Monday."
"She is not returning," Laziel said. His tone wasn’t loud.
"I’ll decide what’s best for my daughter!" I said, my voice rising as I leaned forward. "That’s the only school in the city I can afford, Laziel."
"Not while you live beneath my roof," he replied, finally cutting his eyes to me.
"A child walked out of that school yesterday," he continued, his voice dropping. "No teacher noticed and no security stopped her. That institution failed its only responsibility. She will not step foot in it again."
He was right. The thought of what could have happened to her yesterday still made me sick to my stomach. But the control he was taking over my life made me wild with anger.
"How am I supposed to pay for a school like that?" I demanded.
He looked genuinely puzzled.
"Did I ask you for money?"
"That’s not the point!" I blurted out, the frustration completely bubbling over. "Why are you doing this? Anastelle isn’t your responsibility. She’s not your daughter!"
But Laziel didn’t answer.
He just sat there. For the briefest moment.... he looked almost... unsettled. It wasn’t because he was hiding a secret reason. It was because looking at him, I realized he didn’t actually have an answer. He didn’t know why he was doing it either.
She wasn’t related to him—at least, not as far as he knew.
Laziel broke the silence by shifting his gaze down to Anastelle, who was happily licking syrup off her fork, completely oblivious to the tension thick enough to choke the room.
He pushed his chair back and stood up, completely dodging my question.
"Keep speaking to me like we’re equals, Miss Brenner..." he said quietly, leaning slightly over the table toward me, "...and eventually you’ll discover why no one else does."
He straightened his tie, turned on his heel, and walked out of the room.
