chapter 4 finally it cool down

Chapter 4 — Tea, and Bad Timing

Morning in the Hale house didn’t feel like morning.

It felt like a system restarting unwillingly.

And Elena Voss was already up before the system even tried.

She was in the kitchen.

Which, according to Lucas Hale, was already the first mistake of the day.

“Why are you here?” Lucas asked immediately.

Elena didn’t even look at him.

“Usually people say good morning first,” she replied, casually pouring herself water.

“It’s not a good morning,” Lucas said.

Elena finally turned slightly.

“Oh,” she said. “So it’s just a dramatic morning.”

That made Mira choke slightly on her tea from the dining table.

Adrian, sitting nearby, didn’t react outwardly—but his eyes moved up for half a second.

Lucas narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t start,” he warned.

Elena took a sip of water.

“I didn’t even start,” she said calmly. “You came in aggressive already. I’m just… participating.”

Mira couldn’t hold it this time.

A small laugh escaped her.

Lucas turned instantly.

“Mira.”

“I didn’t do anything,” she said quickly, still smiling.

Elena leaned slightly on the counter.

“This is interesting,” she said.

Lucas snapped his gaze back to her.

“What is?”

Elena gestured lightly between them.

“You two have a communication system. One says my name, the other gets scared.”

Mira almost laughed again.

Lucas looked like he was about to lose patience with existence itself.

“I am not scared,” he said flatly.

Elena nodded slowly.

“Good,” she said. “Then I’ll stop taking it personally.”

Adrian finally spoke from the table.

“You’re provoking him on purpose.”

Elena looked at him.

“Am I?”

A pause.

Then she added:

“I thought this was just how your brother greets people.”

Lucas stepped forward slightly.

“I don’t greet people like this,” he said.

Elena smiled faintly.

“That’s what makes it special then.”

Mira covered her mouth quickly to hide another laugh.

Lucas looked betrayed by reality itself.

“Why are you like this?” he asked.

Elena tilted her head.

“Like what?”

“Annoying,” Lucas said immediately.

Elena nodded thoughtfully.

“That’s not very specific,” she said. “But I’ll accept it as emotional feedback.”

That did it.

Lucas exhaled sharply and turned away like he was trying not to say something he would regret.

Adrian watched all of this quietly.

Not amused.

Not irritated.

Just… observing patterns.

Mira leaned slightly toward Elena.

“Do you always talk like this?” she asked.

Elena thought for a second.

“No,” she said.

Then added:

“Sometimes I sleep, eat, and watch tv.”

That made Mira laugh properly this time.

Lucas, from across the room:

“That is not funny.”

Elena glanced at him.

“It wasn’t meant to be.”

That made it worse.

Lucas rubbed his temple slightly.

“You’re impossible to talk with” he said.

Elena nodded once.

“I’ve been told I’m consistent.”

Adrian finally set his cup down.

“You’re staying here long-term?” he asked.

Elena looked at him.

“Did I say I was leaving?”

Silence.

Lucas immediately answered:

“You should stay a little longer.” he said it without thinking realizing his mistake.

Elena smiled politely.

“That sounded like concern,” she said.

Lucas didn’t respond quickly.

Because it did sound like concern.

And he hated that it did.

“Don’t overthink it, it will be trouble to see you again and again for inheritance. we could just do it in one go” he said finally.

Elena nodded.

“I don’t overthink,” she replied. “That’s your department apparently.”

Mira leaned back in her chair, still smiling slightly.

“This is kind of fun,” she said.

Lucas turned again.

“Mira.”

“I mean it in a normal way!” she said quickly.

Elena looked at Mira.

“I think you’re the only one having a normal morning,” she said.

Mira blinked.

“That’s a compliment?”

Elena nodded.

“From this villa, yes.”

Adrian exhaled quietly.

Something between amusement and suspicion.

Lucas finally gave up on the conversation entirely.

He grabbed his coat.

“I’m leaving,” he said.

Elena looked at him.

“Finally something productive,” she said.

Lucas stopped at the door.

He didn’t turn around fully.

“…Don’t touch anything in my house,” he said.

Elena tilted her head.

“Which part is yours exactly?”

That did it.

Lucas turned sharply.

“You know what I mean.”

Elena smiled.

“Yes,” she said. “That’s why I asked.”

Lucas left.

Hard footsteps.

Very loud door shut.

Mira sat there silently for a second.

Then whispered:

“He’s going to explode one day.”

Elena nodded.

“Probably before lunch,” she said.

That made Mira laugh again.

Adrian watched Elena for a moment longer.

Then said quietly:

“You enjoy this.”

Elena met his eyes.

A small pause.

Then:

“Only a little,” she said. “Your brother makes it easy.”

Adrian didn’t respond.

But something in his expression softened just slightly.

Not trust.

Not warmth.

Just recognition that she wasn’t what they originally labeled her as.

And upstairs somewhere in that same house…

Lucas was already regretting every word he didn’t say more carefully.

Because the problem wasn’t that Elena Voss had returned.

The problem was—

she wasn’t making the house quieter.

She was making it louder in ways they couldn’t control.

End of Chapter 4

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