Terrifying.
High above the city, inside the silent halls of Nicholas’s Hollywood Hills villa, the air shifted.
The hidden chamber beneath the mansion had not been opened for a century.
Stone walls sealed away a secret the world had forgotten.
In the center of the room stood a crystal coffin.
Inside it lay a woman with long dark hair and porcelain skin.
Evelyn Rose.
For one hundred years she had slept.
But tonight—
Her fingers twitched.
The crystal surface began to glow faintly red.
And somewhere in the city, Valentino smiled.
“The queen is waking.”
Nicholas arrived at the villa less than thirty minutes later.
He had left the party abruptly.
Left Macy confused and staring after him.
Now he walked quickly through the dim hallway toward the hidden chamber.
The moment he opened the door, the energy hit him.
Dark power flooded the room.
The coffin glowed brighter.
Inside it, Evelyn’s chest rose slowly with her first breath in a century.
Nicholas’s jaw tightened.
“Valentino.”
A voice echoed from the shadows.
“You felt it too.”
Valentino stepped forward, his expression pleased.
“She’s returning.”
Nicholas’s eyes burned with anger.
“You woke her.”
“I merely… assisted the process.”
“You know what happens when she wakes.”
Valentino’s smile widened.
“Oh, I do.”
His gaze sharpened.
“And she’ll want to know why her beloved Nicholas has been spending time with a human girl.”
Nicholas went still.
“Stay away from Macy.”
Valentino chuckled.
“You say her name so gently.”
His eyes glinted.
“Careful. Evelyn has never liked sharing.”
Nicholas’s voice turned deadly quiet.
“If she touches Macy—”
“She will do much worse than touch her,” Valentino interrupted.
“Because when Evelyn awakens fully… she will destroy every human who stands between her and you.”
Nicholas’s chest tightened.
Macy.
Bright.
Stubborn.
Alive.
She had no idea the storm approaching her life.
Valentino leaned closer.
“You have a choice, Nicholas.”
His smile was cruel.
“Distance yourself from the girl.”
“Or watch Evelyn tear her apart.”
The next evening, the headlines exploded across every tabloid in Los Angeles.
Photos plastered the front pages.
Blurry paparazzi shots taken outside an exclusive nightclub.
Nicholas Thorne stepping out of a limousine.
Beside him—
A stunning dark-haired woman wrapped around his arm.
Evelyn Rose.
The headline screamed:
HOLLYWOOD BILLIONAIRE NICHOLAS THORNE SPOTTED WITH MYSTERY BEAUTY – STUNT GIRL DUMPED?
Macy stared at the article on her phone.
Her chest felt hollow.
The nightclub photo showed Nicholas leaning down toward Evelyn.
Whispering something.
His expression soft.
Intimate.
Her stomach twisted painfully.
Across the table, Zoe sighed dramatically.
“Men are all the same.”
Macy tried to laugh.
“It’s probably nothing.”
“Really?”
Zoe turned the phone toward her.
“Because that looks like something.”
Macy’s throat tightened.
“I’m sure it’s just business.”
But even as she said it, doubt crept in.
Nicholas hadn’t called.
Hadn’t texted.
Hadn’t visited the set in days.
It felt like he had vanished overnight.
Zoe leaned closer.
“You know what I think?”
“What?”
“I think he was never serious about you.”
Macy flinched.
Zoe continued softly.
“Guys like Nicholas Thorne don’t date stunt doubles.”
Her words landed like knives.
“Maybe he was just… bored.”
Macy pushed her chair back.
“I have to go.”
She left the café quickly, ignoring Zoe’s satisfied smile.
Outside, the Los Angeles sky had turned a dull gray.
Clouds covered the sun.
For the first time since meeting Nicholas—
Macy felt completely alone.
That night, Nicholas stood on the balcony of his villa watching the city lights flicker below.
Inside the mansion, Evelyn laughed softly somewhere down the hall.
The sound made his skin crawl.
Valentino approached him quietly.
“You did well tonight.”
Nicholas’s voice was cold.
“She believes it.”
“And the girl?”
Nicholas didn’t answer.
Because he already knew.
Somewhere across the city, Macy Cole was probably staring at those photos.
Heartbroken.
Believing he had chosen someone else.
Valentino’s voice cut through the silence.
“Good.”
His eyes gleamed.
“Because the further she stays from you… the longer she lives.”
Nicholas closed his eyes briefly.
The lie was working.
But it felt like tearing his own heart apart.
And somewhere deep inside his immortal chest—
He feared it might already be too late.