𝐒𝐲𝐧 ┃𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

111. 𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟，𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝐷𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟

Queen

We all sat in the living room, the palpable tension becoming suffocating as our eyes bounced around at one another. Lilith looked more than comfortable on the couch, using Syn as her personal butler- making him put her luggage away and fetch her one too many drinks. If it were truly Syn being this accommodating I would've beat his ass, but this fraud deserved to be just as unnerved as it seemed Lilith was making him. He had hardly sat down since she arrived.

She tapped the top of her glass with her long- red polished nail, and he looked at her. "Refill please, dear."

"Of course." He grumbled, swiveling around in the kitchen and looking through the alcohol in the cabinet. Hmm. He must've done some looking around because the first day he was here I had to remind him where the salt and pepper were. I should've known then— Syn never asked me that shit. He hardly cooked. He was more likely to order a gourmet breakfast, reheat it, plate it himself, and then serve it as his own.

"What has you smiling so much over there, little one?" She asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. "If I were you, the last thing I'd be right now is happy...Unless?" She leaned forward and glanced toward the kitchen at Aiden. "Was this the plan all along? Set up this entire charade so you could leave Syn and be with whoever this is—"

"Are you fucking insane?!" I hissed lowly, leaning over the coffee table and glaring at her. "You think I'm here because I want to be?!"

"Lower your voice." She raised a perfectly shaped brow and I shook my head. Despite everything she had been through— everything I wanted her to be going through, she looked perfect as always. Her jet black was hair ironed straight down past her shoulders into a blunt bob- her dark brown skin glowing as always. I hated it. "And what am I supposed to think, darling?... I'm sure Syn has wondered the same thing—"

"Don't talk about Syn like you fucking know him?"

"I know enough from this past week or so." She shrugged a shoulder.

"Week?" I asked in confusion. "He's only been gone for three days."

"Three days for you," she said. "It's been almost two weeks out there."

What?

I shook my head. "Out there?"

"Oh, don't be dense, my love." She rolled her eyes.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I whispered in a sharp tone. "What do you mean two weeks?!"

"Is everything okay?" Our eyes snapped up to the intruder and he raised a brow at us, tipping the bottle of wine in the direction of Lilith's glass.

"Everything is fine," Lilith spoke up for me. "I'd just like to take my daughter out later—" The glass of wine burst in his hand, making Lilith and I jump in our seats. "What the hell—"

"I apologize." He smiled, not paying attention to the spilled wine all over the couch and table. I looked down at his hand, glass shards nestled in his skin and I instinctively looked down at mine— as if I needed another reminder that this wasn't him. Nothing again. I rubbed my palm against my dress and swallowed an uneasy lump in my throat. "I'm afraid nobody will be leaving this place tonight," he said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"I just told you." He grabbed a napkin from the table and straightened, cleaning his hand. "Aiden is still a threat. Until he's caught- I won't let you put yourself at risk."

So that's why he brought up the Aiden story...

"Is that why there's a barrier around this place?" My mother spoke up.