The Heiress He Underestimated novel Chapter 6

Chapter 6 His Perfect Doll

“Elera. I haven’t heard from you. How was your little outing today?”

She closed her eyes, summoning the breathy, vacant tone. “It was fine, Daddy. I just went shopping. I needed a new dress for my dinner with Xan tonight.”

“Good, good. Don’t be late. And remember what I said.”

“Of course, Daddy. I remember.” Smile, be sweet, and let him take the lead.

She hung up, the familiar resentment a cold stone in her stomach. But it was different now. The stone was being forged into a weapon.

She left the lab, the problems of Drakonius’s DNA and her father’s expectations swirling in her mind. At home, she transformed once more into the version of Elera that Xan expected. She chose a dress of pale lavender silk, simple and elegant, and left her hair down in soft waves. She looked in the mirror and practiced a smile, letting it reach her eyes just enough to be convincing, but not enough to be intelligent.

Xan arrived exactly on time. He looked devastatingly handsome in a dark blue suit, his green eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled at her.

“You look beautiful, Elera,” he said, handing her a single, perfect white orchid. The gesture was so good, so designed to portray refined taste and romance, that she almost laughed.

“Thank you, Xan. It’s lovely.” She tucked it into her hair, playing her part.

“It sounds like a dream,” she breathed, her eyes wide with feigned excitement. Inside, her mind was cold and clear. She knew what he planned for that yacht. Isolated, vulnerable, with a crew loyal only to him. It was the perfect place to begin the process of breaking her spirit, of collecting the “evidence” he needed.

You have no idea, she thought, that my happiness is a fortress you will never breach.

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