The rest of the morning was oddly quiet.
Erin barely spoke as she placed Xander's breakfast in front of him. She didn't make snarky comments. Didn't glare or grumble. She just served and walked away, sitting at the far end of the table like the space between them might cool the lingering tension from earlier.
Xander, uncharacteristically, didn't push. He ate slowly, casting occasional glances at her, trying to decipher what was going on behind that perfectly unreadable expression.
She wasn't angry. That much was clear. But she wasn't herself either.
Not the sharp-tongued girl who stormed into his life. Not the stubborn maid who acted like she was too good for the job. Not the firecracker who looked at him like he was the bane of her existence.
This Erin was quiet. Controlled. Distant.
He didn't like it.
By mid-afternoon, they'd retreated into separate corners of the house. Xander was in his study while Erin was facing him in it's balcony reading half-heartedly , her thoughts elsewhere. She couldn't stop thinking about that stupid fall. About the way her heart had leapt before the staff member's gasp shattered everything.
And worst of all, about how she hadn't pulled away right away. How part of her had almost… stayed.
No, she scolded herself. It meant nothing. It was just a moment. A stupid, clumsy accident. He didn't even react. Why was she thinking about it like it was something?
But her heart had other ideas.
By the time dinner rolled around, she had gathered herself again, dressing in a neat, pressed uniform and tying her hair back to keep her mind in work mode. She set the table with mechanical efficiency, laying the silverware and napkins like she was building a fortress around herself.
Xander entered just as she lit the last candle on the table. Their eyes met briefly—and she quickly looked away.
Dinner began in near silence.
For a few minutes, the only sounds were the soft clinks of forks against plates, the gentle pour of water into crystal glasses. Erin ate quietly, barely tasting the food she'd made, her brain whirring too fast to focus.
Xander set down his fork with a quiet clink.
"You're quiet again."
Erin didn't look up. "So are you."
"Not like you to go the whole day without throwing at least one insult my way."
She stabbed a piece of asparagus. "Maybe I'm evolving."
He leaned back in his chair, eyes fixed on her. "Or maybe you're trying to avoid thinking about what happened this morning."
Her grip tightened slightly. "There's nothing to think about."
"Really?" he asked, folding his arms. "Because you looked pretty flustered."
Erin exhaled sharply and finally raised her eyes. "I said it was nothing. People fall. It happens. I slipped. You caught me. End of story."
He tilted his head. "You were the one who said everyone would talk about it."
"That doesn't mean I care what they think," she snapped. "I just didn't want them getting the wrong idea."
"Which is?"
"That I'd ever willingly fall for someone like you," she said flatly.
The words hung in the air like ice.
Xander smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Right. Heaven forbid."
A heavy silence followed. One that neither of them broke until Erin pushed her plate away and stood.
"I'm not hungry."
Xander didn't stop her.
She left the dining room, her footsteps echoing down the hall as she moved toward the garden balcony for some air. She leaned on the railing, eyes fixed on the moonlight-drenched grounds, trying to breathe away the frustration knotted in her chest.
But it didn't go away. Because she hated this. She hated that things were changing. She hated that she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about him anymore. She hated that the moment she let her guard down, her entire mission—the reason she was here—faded further from her mind. She knew she had promised to treat him normal but that might disturb her mission.
She didn't even hear Xander until he stepped out onto the balcony behind her.
"You're not easy to read these days."
Erin didn't turn. "Maybe you're just bad at reading people."
He moved to stand beside her, leaving a careful space between them. "Maybe. Or maybe you're purposely making it difficult."
She glanced sideways at him. "Why did you send Lillianne away?"
He looked at her for a long moment. "You really need me to answer that?"
"Yes."
Xander looked up at the stars. "Because I didn't want to keep pretending."
Erin's brows pulled together. "Pretending about what?"
"That she belongs here. That I want her here. That I care for her in any way."
Silence stretched again.
"…You've never sent her away before."
"I didn't have a reason to before."
Erin's voice was soft. "And now you do?"
Xander turned to face her fully. "I know you think I'm some spoiled rich boy playing house, but I see more than you think I do. I knew what Lillianne did last night the second I saw her on the floor."
Erin blinked in disbelief. "Then why—?"
"I waited until she was asleep and had my staff escort her out. Quietly. No fuss. She'll cause less of a scene that way."
Erin stared at him. "So you really did believe me."
"I already told you I never didn't."
Her breath caught.
"I just didn't want to escalate things with her family," he added. "You've seen how that goes."
Erin stepped back, her voice trembling slightly. "I still don't get why didn't you defend me the other times? Why did you let them insult me like that?"
Xander walked toward her slowly, closing the distance. "Because they're waiting for a reason. One reason to call you a threat. One reason to drag you out of here and twist the story however they like. I've been trying to avoid giving them that reason."
She looked up at him, the tension in her chest unraveling into something raw. "But isn't that what you wanted? For me to be dragged out?"
"No…" He gently took her shoulders, like he had the night before. "At least not anymore."
She looked down, fighting the lump in her throat. "Why? Why do you want me to stay?"
"Because…" he said, his voice quiet. "Even when you're driving me insane. Even when I know you're hiding something. You still make me feel like a normal person."
"I'm flattered." She said genuinely.
Her head snapped up. "But why are you still going through with this engagement if you know what kind of person Lillianne is?"
"Because," he said, his voice dipping lower, more tired than she'd ever heard it, "I don't have a choice. I don't get a say."
They stood there, both quiet, both staring at each other like they were finally seeing more than what was on the surface.
Erin thought , 'Neither do I. I never chose to be here. I didn't want revenge or lies. I just wanted peace.'
Xander's gaze softened like he already understood her without any words.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
It was the most honest moment they'd shared. Two people stuck in the middle of battles they didn't start. Trapped by decisions they never got to make.
And somehow… both finding something in each other that made it bearable.
But peace wasn't meant to last. Because that same night, Erin's burner phone lit up with a message from someone she hadn't heard from in weeks—someone from home. And the moment she read it, her heart sank. Her mission was no longer on pause. It had just taken a dangerous turn.