Chapter 4 - Through the Looking Glass
The next few days were a blur of terror and luxury. Raina was given a small but warm room. Teddy was fed, his color returning to his cheeks. But the mansion was a labyrinth of secrets.
Raina worked, as promised. She polished mahogany tables until she could see her own haunted reflection. She cleaned the library, where the shelves reached the ceiling and the books were bound in leathers that smelled like time.
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Every time she saw Desmond, the atmosphere curdled. He was constantly watching her, his eyes tracing her movements, looking for a resemblance she didn't know she carried. She learned that he wasn't just a businessman; he was a man guarding a legacy of blood. The ring, she discovered by eavesdropping on Kora, was a signet of the 'Vane' family—a bloodline that had supposedly gone extinct during a violent mob purge fifteen years ago.
Raina wasn't just a beggar. She was a living piece of a history Desmond thought he had buried.
