The afternoon sky was beginning to turn red as Damian's black car pulled up slowly in front of the Lancaster mansion. The front door opened before he could knock, as if his mother had been waiting for him all along.

"You're home too," Margareth said with an unreadable expression. Her face remained beautiful and well-groomed despite her age. She wore a dark satin dress and a pearl necklace that added to her aristocratic aura.

Damian entered without saying much, immediately taking off his suit and draping it over the back of the sofa. "It's been a long day," he murmured as he poured himself a glass of wine from the...