The sun was already high by the time Rielle stirred in her sleep. Her head banged hard, as a very strong headache washed over her.
Light filtered through the half-open curtains. She kept her eyes shut, burying her face deeper into the sheets like she could delay waking so she could stay inside the silence before remembering.
She was about to sigh, and force herself up when she heard a knock on her door. That was surprising. She wasn't expecting anyone, and Xander would never have much manners to knock.
The knock was soft and hesitant, and before she could respond, the door creaked open anyway.
Rielle opened one eye just in time to see Jace step inside, holding a sleek black mug in one hand and a folded newspaper in the other.
She shot up immediately, the duvet falling from her shoulder. "What the hell? Are you insane?" Her voice cracked with sleep and indignation. She almost yelled at him.b
Jace blinked at her. "Good morning to you too."
"I told you never to come into my room."
He raised an eyebrow, not looking the least bit threatened. "You also told Aiden you'd burn down the whole building if someone touched your coffee wrong, but I noticed you still drank what he mixed that day."
She narrowed her eyes.
Jace held out the mug. "I didn't touch it wrong. Black, one sugar. I even used the fancy beans you hide in the second cabinet."
Rielle gritted her teeth, and rubbed her palm on her forehead. "You went through my cabinets?"
"You make it sound creepy," he said, casually setting the cup down on her nightstand. "I was curious."
"Curious?" She repeated, folding her arms, still glaring. "About what, exactly?"
Jace leaned back on his heels. "About how someone can stay up till 5AM and still look like something out of a dream."
That caught her off guard. Her mouth parted. She was stunned. She wasn't flattered, not even angry. Just stunned.
Jace tilted his head and smiled like it didn't mean anything. "Also, you didn't come down for breakfast. Aiden asked me to check if you were alive."
She narrowed her gaze. "So now you're reporting to Aiden?"
"I report to whoever feeds me." He joked.
She sighed, flopping back against the pillows, ignoring the way her heart still hadn't stopped racing. "You shouldn't be here."
She hated how much effect he still had on Lina.
"I'll leave," he said, but he didn't move. "Just… drink the coffee first. You looked like you needed it."
Silence stretched between them. The sides of her lips almost stretched alongside the silence. Seeing his nice side doesn't feel real at all.
Then, as if relenting, Rielle reached for the mug and took a slow sip. She didn't thank him.
She didn't have to.
Jace saw the way her shoulders relaxed slightly, and how her lashes dipped. Curiously, he studied her and knew she'd slept terribly, that her silence was just another kind of scream.
So he stepped back, toward the door.
"By the way," he added, pausing on the threshold, "if you ever need to throw someone off a rooftop, I volunteer to help carry the body."
Rielle blinked. Then, for the briefest second, her lips twitched again. Not a smile. But she wasn't quite disgusted this time.
Jace left without another word.
And Rielle, now alone with the coffee in her hand and a jacket still draped on the chair from last night, stared at the city and whispered,
"Idiots. All of them."
But she took another sip anyway. She took another sip, letting the warmth seep into her bones.
The bitter comfort of the coffee grounded her, but the silence in her room was deceptive. Peaceful on the surface. Tense underneath.
Her eyes drifted again to the nightstand, where Jace had placed the mug like it was nothing. But to walk into her space like that, was everything.
He just crossed a line. She would have thrown the mug on his head before he had the chance to leave.
She pushed the duvet aside, rising with slow, deliberate movements. Her robe was hung on the back of her door, silk black and gold. It was gifted to her by Aiden. Custom. No brand dared to stamp their name on it.
As she wrapped it around her, her gaze flicked to the full-length mirror across the room. The curve of her jaw, the faint line between her brows, the way her hair fell, and how she didn't need to speak to remind anyone who she was.
She stepped onto the cool floor and moved to the balcony doors, pulling them open just enough to let in the breeze.
Still, the coffee tasted like her favorite morning. And it irritated her that he knew that. How come he knew nothing about Lina but would do anything for Rielle?
Behind her, a light knock dropped on ber door, barely audible. Her voice cut clean through the air. "Do not enter."
The door didn't open. The person stepped back, but his voice came through, low and careful.
"I'm leaving the reports by your door, Rielle. Xander sent a draft of the contract last night. There's a handwritten note attached. Do you want me to burn it?" Auden said by the door.
She turned slightly, and her furrowed brows softened. "No."
Rielle paused, and after taking a sip from her coffee again, she ordered. "Shred it instead."
Aiden paused at the door, obviously surprised. "As you wish."
His steps faded after those words.
Still holding the mug, Rielle walked back to her bed and sat down softly. Her back was straight, with her eyes now sharp. She was beginning to feel like herself again.
The headache was duller now, but the tension in her chest remained. She traded her whole life just to be on top of the world, but she still couldn't be free.
She pushed the coffee aside, and sank back into her bed. She felt like terminating everything. She returned for a normal life.