The day began quietly. The kind of soft, slow morning that held no real promise but also no threat. It was a Sunday. Emily came up to Ava's room to call her for breakfast, and Ava followed her down, still feeling slightly adrift after the tension of the past few days. The dining room was empty when she arrived. Damien was nowhere to be seen.
Ava didn't bother asking where he might have gone. Damien liked to appear and disappear as he pleased, and she had grown used to his silent, unpredictable comings and goings. It was one of the many things she had stopped questioning. She ate her breakfast alone in the long, echoing room, the clink of her cutlery against the china sounding louder than necessary. Afterwards, she returned upstairs and spent a while scrolling aimlessly on her phone. And then feeling restless, she came back down,
She wandered toward the resting room, a large, high ceilinged space that, she imagined, might once have been what was called the drawing room in some long past century. It stood just past the main living area and was outfitted with elegant furniture that looked far too expensive to be casually used. At one end of the room, half lost in the shadows from the tall, curtain-draped windows, stood a grand piano. Its glossy black surface reflected the warm afternoon light.
Ava had never heard it played and she wondered if it had ever been played.
She sat on the couch and turned on the massive television that dominated one wall. It was very large, like a theatre screen trapped in a private room and yet it seemed no one used it. The remote felt dusty in her hand, even if the screen flickered on instantly. She flipped through channels, let the colors move across the screen with no real interest and then turned it off again after a while.
Feeling bored, she got up and walked over to the piano.
She ran her fingers gently across the keys. She didn't press down, she just traced their smooth ivory surface. There was not a single speck of dust. Of course not, it was spotless and polished like the rest of the house. It clearly looked like it was worth a fortune and clearly untouched. So expected of rich people, buying totally unnecessary things. Another perfectly beautiful object purchased only to exist, to be admired but not experienced. She wondered if rich people bought things like this just to fill space. Just to say they owned something timeless, look at it and admire it.
By early evening, the sun was still out. It was the first real sun in days. The rain had finally lifted, and the estate's grounds were bright and warm. Ava took a book from the library and went outside. She sat under a wide branched tree near the back garden. It was a shady spot with a small iron bench beneath it. The branches cast soft shadows over her as she read. The warmth, the silence, the faint birdsong in the air, it felt almost like a different world.
Emily eventually came out with a tray, setting it down beside her with a small smile.
"Juice and cake," she said gently. "You've hardly eaten anything since breakfast."
Ava smiled, nodded, and thanked her.
"The weather's nice today," Emily added, glancing up at the golden sky. "It's been a while. It would be a good day for shopping."
Ava nodded. "It really would."
"There's a market nearby," Emily continued, brushing a few crumbs off her apron. "There's a local artisan trade fair in town. It happens once a year, around this time of the season. It's small, but it's beautiful, real handmade things, local art, spices, crafts. If I didn't have work, I'd go."
Ava blinked. "A fair?"
Emily nodded. "They decorate the market with lamps. The kind that give you that old-world feeling. I always say it looks like something out of a novel. You should go, if you're up to it. It's not far."
Ava hesitated for a moment. She hadn't left the estate in a while. Maybe this was exactly what she needed, something ordinary. She could really used so outdoor activity so she agreed.
She didn't want to drive herself because she wasn't sure of the location, so she booked a ride. It arrived ten minutes later and she slipped into the back seat, watching as the gates of the Blackwood estate opened to let her out.
The drive was peaceful, the scenery turning from grand private roads to smaller winding ones, and eventually into the edge of a quaint town. When she arrived, she stepped out of the car and paused in awe.
The market was breathtaking.
It looked like it had been plucked from another century. The stalls were arranged in wide rows, strung together with soft golden lamps that flickered in the growing dusk. Lanterns hung from poles, gently swaying in the wind. The sky was beginning to turn, streaked with lavender and pink as the sun started to set, and the whole market was bathed in a warm, romantic glow. People strolled slowly through the stalls, talking, laughing and browsing. She had no idea stuff like it still existed. She walked forward slowly, letting herself get swept up in it.
As the sun started to set, the market started to get fuller. Ava has a very human, grounded experience, walking through the open stalls, looking at art, smelling spices, even laughing as she watched displays.
She took her time, stopping at tables lined with hand painted bowls, jars of dried herbs and baskets of carved wooden animals. She passed stalls selling spices that perfumed the air, cinnamon, cardamom, saffron. Someone was playing soft music from a speaker nearby, and laughter rippled through the evening like it belonged there.
She smiled without meaning to. For once in a long time, she didn't feel like she was carrying anything heavy.
As she walked pass the stalls, her eyes caught a line of displayed jewelries in front of a stall and she stopped. One jewelry in particular caught her eyes. Her eyes were drawn immediately to a necklace, simple, delicate and elegant. It was a thin silver chain with a small teardrop crystal pendant hanging at the center. It shoned faintly under the lantern light.
It was so pretty as Ava's hand went to touch it before her brain could react. She brushed her fingers gently over the crystal.
The vendor, a woman with warm eyes and a soft smile, tilted her head. "Do you like it?"
Ava nodded immediately. "It's very beautiful."
The vendor smiled. "Maybe it was meant for you."
Ava smiled, still feeling the crystal on her fingers. "Maybe."
The vendor lifted it carefully and held it up. "The teardrop shape, it symbolizes clarity. It's not sorrow, as most people think. It's meant to help its wearer find truth in moments of confusion."
Ava looked at her, surprised. "It's meaning is a beautiful as it is."
The woman smiled again. "Would you like to try it on?"
She nodded, and the woman helped fasten the clasp behind her neck. Ava stepped in front of a small mirror on the edge of the table. The crystal hung just at her collarbone, catching the light. She smiled. It looked simple and real. It looked like something that belonged to her, not the version of her she was made to be.
"I'll take it," she said softly.
She paid and thanked the vendor, then turned back toward the crowd. It was fully dark now. The market lights glowed stronger, and even more people had arrived. She wandered a little longer before finally deciding it was time to head back.
She took out her phone to book a ride, but it was already nearly dead. The battery bar flashed red and worse, there was no internet connection.
She walked back to the market entrance to try again, but the signal still didn't return.
Ava stood for a moment, trying to decide whether to wait or walk further down the road still she can find an internet connection. If the phone died completely, she might be stuck longer than expected.
As she turned to look around, she saw someone leaning against a sleek black car just a few meters away.
For a moment, she couldn't place him. But then she did, her breath caught.
It was Damien.
He stood with his arms crossed, watching her. Not coldly. Not impatiently. Just… there, like he had been waiting.
Relief washed over her so quickly that she barely understood why. Maybe because she had already started wondering how she would get home if she finds no internet and her phone goes off. Maybe because it was night and the crowds were slowly thinning. Or maybe, in some strange way, she had just wanted to see him but somewhere in the back of her mind, she was glad to see him for once.
He began to walk toward her the moment their eyes met.
"How did you know where I was?" she asked as he reached her.
"Emily told me," he said. "And I happened to be driving past."
She tilted her head, a small teasing smile playing at her lips. "Uh, I see. You came for me."
He returned her smile. "Maybe."
For a moment, he looked different. More like a man, less like the heir of a dark family legacy. Ava for the first time really appreciated how good-looking the man in front of her really is. She had never quite noticed before, but Damien Blackwood was beautiful. In the glow of the lanterns, under the open sky, he looked almost... normal. And human, not that reclusive billionaire she tagged him in her head.
They walked toward the car together. He opened the door for her, and she slid in. As he started the engine, his eyes flicked toward the crystal pendant.
"That's new," he said.
Ava's fingers went up to touch it automatically. "I bought it at the market. Pretty, isn't it?"
"It is."
She smiled, her fingers still brushing the smooth surface of the crystal.
"The vendor said it symbolizes clarity," she added, turning to look out the window. "Truth, in the middle of confusion."
Damien didn't say anything, but he glanced at her once more as the car rolled into the night while Ava's eyes went to look out the car window. The faint glow of the pendant caught the light with each small movement.