The other woman was ME

CHAPTER ONE

The Villa at the Edge of Silence

Mia Carter stepped out of the sleek black car and onto the gravel drive of the Voss estate, her boots crunching beneath her. The villa rose before her like something carved out of a dream-stone arches draped in ivy, windows like eyes watching her arrival. It was nothing like the tiny walk-up apartment she'd left behind that morning or the crowded café where she usually spent her afternoons sketching customers between lattes.

This world was quiet. Too quiet. A silence that hummed with expectation.

She clutched her worn leather bag, the one with her charcoal pencils and folded sketchbook inside, though she doubted she'd have time to use them. Not here. Not in this world.

The front door opened before she could knock. A woman with a tight bun and a tighter smile greeted her. "Miss Carter. Welcome to Villa Serena."

Mia didn't correct her. The villa's name suited it-beautiful and deceivingly peaceful.

Inside, the walls were cream and shadow, the floors polished marble that reflected Mia's hesitance. Paintings lined the corridors, all abstract, all cold. She felt more like an intruder than a guest.

"You'll be staying in the East Wing," the woman continued. "Everything has been arranged according to Dr. Shaw's recommendations. Mr. and Mrs. Voss will meet with you shortly."

Mia nodded. She had read the contract front to back, then again, just to be sure. No unnecessary contact. No emotional entanglements. Discretion, privacy, and obedience. But paper was one thing. Presence was another.

The room she was led to was larger than her entire apartment. Pale blue curtains danced with the breeze, and a four-poster bed stood like a throne. The window opened to a sea view so stunning Mia had to touch the sill to believe it was real.

She was still staring when she heard the knock.

Turning, she expected the housekeeper or Dr. Shaw.

Instead, Damian Voss entered.

Tall. Impossibly put-together. His charcoal-gray suit looked sharper than steel, and his eyes-cold, slate, unreadable-made her spine straighten.

"Miss Carter," he said, voice smooth but unwelcoming. "I trust your trip was comfortable."

"Yes," she said, forcing her voice not to shake. "Thank you."

His gaze scanned the room, then her, lingering not inappropriately, but with interest. Assessment.

"This arrangement," he said, folding his hands behind his back, "is more than a medical procedure. It's the last thread holding something... fragile together. I trust you understand the stakes."

Mia nodded. "I do."

Something flickered in his expression-approval or warning, she couldn't tell.

He stepped back. "Dinner is at eight. Elena would like to meet you. Until then, rest."

He left without another word.

Mia sank onto the edge of the bed.

This was real. This was happening.

And something in the villa's stillness told her that nothing would go as planned.

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