The Devil's obsession with the Heiress

Just as Cillian rose, Jade stood up at the exact same moment, nearly causing them to collide.

She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously while he merely smirked and stepped aside, making a small gesture with his hand as he said, "Ladies first."

Jade stared at him for a second longer, momentarily stunned by his unusually gentlemanly behaviour, before she let out a soft huff and continued on her way in the direction Aliana had gone.

In her mind, even though they were inside the mansion, she wasn’t willing to take any chances by leaving Aliana alone, not even for a few minutes.

After all, the incident with Rose had happened in Victorian Heights, Aliana’s own home.

If something like that could happen there, then Jade no longer believed that any amount of security could guarantee Aliana’s safety should another situation arise.

As she walked through the corridor, she noticed that Cillian was following the exact same path.

At first, she paid it no mind, assuming he was heading to the washroom himself.

But when they passed the men’s washroom and he showed no intention of stopping, instead continuing straight ahead towards the ladies’ washroom, Jade finally came to a halt.

Slowly turning her head, she fixed him with a suspicious look and asked, "Where are you going?"

Cillian stopped a few steps behind her and casually slipped his hands into his pockets before replying, "Why do you want to know? I can ask you the same thing."

The corner of Jade’s eye twitched in annoyance. "Well, in case you haven’t noticed, this hallway leads directly to the ladies’ room."

Cillian gave her a small, unbothered nod. "And that is exactly where I am heading."

"Why?" Jade demanded, crossing her arms over her chest as she gave the handsome CEO a thorough, skeptical once-over.

"Well, I had a dream where I was taking a tour of a ladies’ room, and I quite liked it. I wanted to see if it feels the same in real life," Cillian replied with a completely straight face.

"..."

Jade continued staring at him as if she had finally come into direct contact with a certified lunatic.

When she showed no sign of believing him, Cillian chuckled and said, "Like the good person that I am, I’ve volunteered to be Aliana’s temporary bodyguard, of course. Given what happened last time, I’d rather not have any more ghosts trying to come after my friend’s fiancée."

He said it as though it were the most perfectly normal explanation in the world before casually stepping around her and continuing down the corridor.

Jade, on the other hand, was surprised, to say the least.

She certainly hadn’t expected him to be following Aliana for the exact same reason she was.

Turning around, she quickened her pace to catch up with his long strides.

"Why? Why do you care so much? I don’t remember you ever being this nice to Aliana before."

She was referring to all the previous times Cillian and Aliana had met at business events. Their conversations had always consisted of subtle jabs, veiled competition, and enough rivalry to make anyone think they merely tolerated each other.

Because of that, Jade found it difficult to understand how the same man had suddenly made such a dramatic turn from his usual behaviour.

Cillian didn’t stop or even slow down to accommodate her. He simply replied without looking back. "Well, people change, circumstances change, and I care for her because..."

His words trailed off for a moment as he halted. Jade nearly walked straight into his broad back had she not stopped herself at the last second.

Turning to face her, he finished his thought. "...because she’s going to become an integral part of my friend’s life. I would much rather see her alive and standing beside him than wait for something to happen that leads to the opposite outcome."

Jade studied his expression for a moment and found none of the usual humour or playfulness she had grown accustomed to seeing from him.

The sincerity in his words caught her slightly off guard.

She pursed her lips and was just about to respond when something at the edge of her vision caught her attention.

The corridor they stood in had rooms and walls running along one side, while the other opened up through a series of large windows overlooking the carefully maintained courtyard outside.

As her gaze drifted toward the glass, she suddenly froze.

Her eyes widened and the colour drained from her face.

A shaky breath escaped her lips as she whispered, "Is that... who I think it is?"

Cillian had already followed her line of sight and also froze as genuine disbelief crossed his features.

Outside in the courtyard, a familiar figure wandered aimlessly through the darkness.

The woman was wearing the very same dress they had seen her in only days ago. For a brief moment, she paused before slowly turning her head and looked directly through the window.

Her pale face lifted, and her eyes met theirs.

She looked exactly as they remembered... unnaturally pale beneath the moonlight. Then the corners of her lips curled upward into a faint smile, and a chill immediately ran down Jade’s spine.

Before either of them could react, the woman abruptly turned and began running in the opposite direction from where they were heading.

Cillian’s eyes narrowed dangerously as every instinct in his body went on alert as he whispered, "Rose?"

The single word hung heavily between them.

As he uttered the name, Jade whipped her head towards him, only to find him looking right back at her. Hundreds of questions seemed to swirl in both of their eyes, neither needing to voice the thoughts racing through their minds.

Alarm bells immediately began ringing in their heads.

Without wasting another second, Jade spun around and broke into a run, her heels clicking sharply against the floor as she headed towards a nearby door that opened into the courtyard.

"We should see if it really is her," she said.

Without a second thought, Cillian moved right behind the red-headed woman. He himself felt unsettled by the fact that the same spirit could be roaming the earth again when Aliana had already freed her from this world.

He couldn’t help but ask himself what the hell was going on here as a heavy dread pooled in the pit of his stomach.