The car door closed quietly behind him. Julius leaned back into the seat, his shoulders settling against the leather as the world outside dimmed into silence.
"Home, sir?" the driver asked.
"Yes," he said, short and controlled. The car moved smoothly, pulling away from the event as if nothing had happened. But everything had.
Julius loosened his tie slightly, then stopped halfway through the motion, his fingers lingering there a second longer than necessary before dropping away. His breathing still wasn't right, and that alone irritated him.
He turned his head, watching the city lights blur past outside, people moving below, unaware and distant and normal. Everything looked normal. Except him.
"Ridiculous," he muttered, the word coming out low and unconvincing.
His phone vibrated against his thigh. He glanced down — Home — and answered.
"Yes."
"You left early." Her voice was calm, steady, familiar.
"I had something to handle," Julius replied.
A pause followed before she told him to come home. It wasn't a request.
"I'm on my way," Julius said, his gaze drifting back to the window.
"Good." The call ended without explanation, without a wasted word, and Julius lowered the phone slowly. That alone told him everything he needed to know. She already knew.
The gates opened before the car fully stopped. The estate stood quiet, lights glowing softly against the night, though the air felt different somehow — still, waiting.
The driver opened his door, and Julius stepped out without a word, adjusting his jacket once before walking inside. The house was silent, almost too silent, but he didn't ask where she was. He already knew.
She was in the sitting room, seated with her back straight, waiting. Julius stepped in and stopped a few feet away. "Mother."
She looked up, her gaze moving over him slowly, carefully, taking in everything and missing nothing. She was an Alpha, but not just any Alpha — a three-to-one Dominator, her presence filling the room heavy and cold, a power that demanded total submission without ever raising its voice.
"You're late."
"I came as soon as I could."
She noted that he'd left the event. It wasn't a question.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Julius held her gaze. "I had no reason to stay."
She let the silence stretch just long enough to be uncomfortable before she asked if he had met him. This time it was a real question, clear and direct.
Julius's expression didn't change right away. "No." A lie, and she watched him carefully enough to know it.
"I stepped out for air," he said. "That's all."
She pressed again, asking if that was when he'd met him, her voice still calm but sharper now.
Julius's eyes narrowed slightly. "Met who?"
She held his gaze a moment, then reminded him he knew exactly who she meant. The silence stretched again before she continued, just as calm, asking if he'd seen him with Helen.
That landed harder than he expected. "What does that have to do with anything?" Julius asked.
"I don't like her," she said simply, coldly. "I don't like her or her family."
"You've made that clear," Julius said with a short breath.
"And yet you still brought her there," she replied.
"It was an event," Julius said, his expression tightening. She didn't respond to that. Instead, she told him not to act like he didn't understand.
Silence followed, and Julius breathed out slowly, his patience thinning. "You're making this bigger than it is."
"No," she said. That single word stopped him cold.
"You're talking like he's a problem," Julius said, frowning.
"He is." No hesitation.
"To me?" Julius's jaw tightened.
"To anything you put in front of him," she said, tilting her head slightly, and that hit harder than he expected. He didn't have an answer. He'd brought her into that space — that had been his first mistake.
"You're overreacting," Julius said, his voice dropping.
"I'm not," she replied, calm and certain. "The faster you let her go, the safer she'll be."
Julius stared at her. "You're serious."
"I am. No emotion. Just fact."
He shook his head slightly. "You don't even know him."
That was the wrong thing to say. Her gaze sharpened. "I know enough," she said, then warned him not to test something he couldn't control.
Julius didn't reply right away, because for the first time, there was doubt — not in her words, but in himself. The room fell silent again, heavy and unavoidable, until he finally looked away.
"This is getting out of hand," he said quietly.
"No," she replied. "It's just beginning."
That made him look back at her, but she offered no explanation, no elaboration. She simply held his gaze like she already knew exactly how this would end.
Julius stood there a moment longer, then turned. "Goodnight." He didn't wait for a response, didn't look back, and walked out.
Upstairs, the silence followed him, but it felt different now — not empty, not calm, but heavy. He stepped into his room and closed the door behind him, finally stopping.
His hand lifted slightly toward his collar, then dropped again. His jaw tightened. "Ridiculous," he muttered.
But it didn't feel ridiculous. Not anymore.