Chapter 66: Behind the Door

Evelyn Hale was furious.

She had been standing outside the shopping district for nearly twenty minutes, checking her phone again and again.

Her friend had insisted on meeting today. Insisted. And yet there was still no sign of her.

When the call finally connected, the excuse came too easily.

"I’m sorry, Evelyn. Today won’t work. My son came to see me. Let’s go another time."

Evelyn did not mention that she was already there waiting. She simply exhaled and answered evenly,

"Alright. Another time."

After hanging up, she went shopping alone.

By the time she returned to the Hale estate, her feet ached from walking farther than she realized. The bags in her hands felt heavier than they should have, and the quiet street outside the gate only made her irritation settle deeper.

The moment she stepped through the entrance, she noticed something odd.

No servants came to greet her.

Usually, someone appeared the second she walked in. Today, the hall was quiet. Too quiet. Evelyn frowned slightly, placed her shopping bags on the sofa, and decided to freshen up first.

A long walk through the city had left her tired, warm, and faintly sticky from the afternoon air. All she wanted was cold water on her skin and a moment to reset.

She headed straight for the bathroom she always used.

The door was unlocked.

She pushed it open without thinking.

Steam drifted out to meet her, soft and humid against her skin, but she did not immediately register the sound of running water shutting off.

Her mind was still on her ruined plans and sore feet as she stepped inside

Then she heard a man’s voice.

Evelyn’s breath stopped.

A figure emerged from the steam.

Completely bare.

Water still slid down broad shoulders and a toned chest, tracing slow lines over hard muscle before disappearing lower.

For one stunned second, Evelyn’s mind went blank. A man. Naked. In her bathroom. In her house.

How did someone get in without anyone noticing?

Her first reaction was pure instinct.

She screamed.

The man moved fast.

Before the sound could fully escape into the hallway, he closed the distance and pressed a finger against her lips, cutting the cry short. The sudden closeness hit her at once.

Heat. Moisture. The solid press of a wet body far too near. Steam curled between them, and the clean scent of water and skin filled the narrow space.

Evelyn’s mind went white.

He was

God.

He was absurdly handsome.

Her breathing turned uneven against his finger. She could feel the damp warmth of his skin even without looking down, and that alone made her thoughts scatter in the wrong direction.

For a dangerous second, she forgot why she had been angry, forgot the shopping bags, forgot even the absurdity of the situation itself.

She tried to force her thoughts back into order. This was not the time. She needed to call security. She needed the servants. She needed

"Mother-in-law. It’s me. Daemon."

The words finally cut through the panic.

Evelyn froze.

Daemon... who?

Her eyes narrowed in confusion behind his hand. The man looked stunned by her reaction as well, as if he had expected instant recognition and received none.

He slowly eased his finger away, though he remained close enough that the steam still wrapped around both of them. The bathroom felt smaller by the second.

"I am Daemon Miles," he said carefully. "Victoria’s husband. You saw me at the wedding. Do you remember me now?"

Evelyn’s eyes widened.

That name.

That wedding.

But the man in front of her did not match the vague memory in her head. The Daemon she remembered had been ordinary enough to forget, the kind of young man who disappeared into a crowd.

This one looked carved from a different mold entirely sharper, stronger, and far too attractive to have walked into her bathroom like this.

"You... you’re him?" she whispered. "But you look so handsome. Completely different."

The moment the words left her mouth, horror flooded her face.

She slapped both palms over her lips.

Daemon blinked, then a slow smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Without a word, he reached for the towel hanging beside the mirror and wrapped it around his waist.

The movement was calm, almost casual, as if he were trying not to make the situation worse.

Only then did Evelyn dare to lower her hands a little.

Her face was burning.

She tried very hard not to look at him.

She failed.

Her eyes flicked down once more before she forced them away again, ears red to the tips. The image was already burned into her mind whether she wanted it there or not.

She hated that her first clear thought after the shock had not been fear alone.

"I—I’m sorry," she said quickly. "I always come in here without knocking. I live alone. No one is usually here with me."

Daemon finished securing the towel and shook his head lightly.

"I don’t mind."

His voice was calm, almost gentle.

"And from now on, you don’t have to live alone. Your daughter and the others will be staying here... if you’re alright with that."

Evelyn nodded a little too quickly, still struggling to recover her composure. The bathroom suddenly felt smaller than before.

She became painfully aware of how close they still stood, of the leftover steam clinging to the air, and of the fact that she had just openly complimented her son-in-law’s body.

Then Daemon looked at her properly for the first time.

The resemblance struck him at once.

Same vivid red hair. Similar elegance in the features. Victoria’s beauty was sharp and commanding, while Evelyn’s carried a softer maturity warmer, fuller, beautiful in a different way. Even under embarrassment, that grace remained.

He smiled without thinking.

"You look exactly like Victoria," he said. "Same red hair... and beautiful in a different way."

Evelyn’s breath caught.

For a second, she forgot how to answer. The words settled too easily under her skin, unexpected and dangerously pleasant. No one had spoken to her like that in a long time.

Then

Ding!

A System notification flashed coldly through Daemon’s mind.

[Evelyn Hale’s Affection Points have risen.]

[Current Affection: 34%]

Daemon’s soul nearly left his body.

What did I do?

System, don’t do this.

I am not looking at her that way.

If Victoria sees this, she will skin me alive.

Before he could spiral further, the bathroom door handle turned.

A familiar female voice came from the other side as the door began to open.