Page 5 of Seeking Shadows

"Miss Riviera," Olga says again, and I swear her voice has softened.Interesting.

I grin, tilting my head at her. "Olga, just call me Mia, please."

She does not. But I swear her stoic expression cracks—just a little.

"Have you had breakfast?" she asks.

"No."

"I’m not hungry, Miss, thank you."

I squint at her. "You have to say that, don’t you?"

She doesn’t answer.

Instead of pushing, I get up and head straight for the kitchen.

"Isn’t breakfast to your liking, ma’am?" Olga asks, following behind me.

I wave her off. "Everything is perfect, Olga, I just want to make waffles."

Her expression turns alarmed. "I can’t let you do that."

I blink at her. "Why? Are the waffle irons cursed? Haunted by the ghosts of bad dietary choices?"

She looks… nervous? "Mrs. Riviera said your diet must be strictly carbohydrate-free."

My eye twitches.

That bitch.

She drugged me, kidnapped me, and now she’s forbidding me from eating waffles?

I bite back my frustration because Olga looks genuinely uneasy, like she expects me to snap. And that just makes me sad. That’s the problem with the Riviera name—I may not have used it much, but I know theweightit carries. The fear it instills. I don’t want to be part of that.

So I school my expression into something harmless. "It’s okay, Olga, I understand."

She nods, but watches me like I might combust at any second.

Then—"Oh, Miss Riviera—Mia," she corrects, hesitating. "Your fiancé is coming to see you in a few moments."

I freeze.

…Oh,fuck.

CHAPTER 2

ZANE

There are momentsin our lives that change us completely, like shadows creeping into our essence, revealing things we wish we’d been born with.

Sometimes, it comes from pain—the loss of ourselves or someone we love.

I've never felt such a violent desire to fight, to feel something, as I do now.

Marriages are complicated, just like life. That doesn’t mean they’re not worth the risk.

“This is ridiculous.” I complain to Charlie over the phone, rubbing my temples. “I’m pretending to be a millionaire trust fund kid while technically living off your money.”

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