Chapter 75: Inside the Vane Mansion

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Inside the Vane Mansion

The ride took a little under twenty minutes, the city thinning out gradually the further they went, streetlights spacing further apart, the noise of traffic falling away until it barely registered at all. By the time they reached the entrance to Vane Estates, the road itself had changed character entirely, smooth and quiet, bordered by hedges too neatly trimmed to have grown that way naturally.

A guard at the gate checked something on a tablet, exchanged a few words with the driver, and waved them through without much ceremony.

Garrett watched the estate come into view, and the first thing he actually noticed wasn’t the scale of it. It was how empty the road felt compared to the last time he’d been here. Fewer cars parked along the drive, fewer signs of activity than the bustle he remembered from picking Emiliana up for their Sunday date.

The car pulled up outside the main entrance, and Garrett stepped out with his bags, taking another look around. Familiar enough now that it didn’t hit him the way it had the first time, The building rose ahead of him, stone and glass in careful proportion, the kind of architecture that had clearly been designed rather than simply built.

He pulled out his phone and called Emiliana.

"I’m here."

"Yay!...I’ll be there now."

Before she could actually appear, a couple of household staff approached from near the entrance, moving with the easy efficiency of people who already knew exactly who he was and why he was standing there.

"Mr. Garrett," one of them said, already reaching for his bags. "We’ll take those up for you."

Garrett let them, murmuring a thanks, and glanced toward the car still idling nearby. Mr. Owen stood near the driver’s side, giving Garrett a small nod of recognition.

"Good to see you again, Owen" Garrett said.

"Yeah, how’re you son?." Owen’s expression carried the same quiet professionalism Garrett remembered from before, no particular warmth, but nothing cold either.

"I’m well" he responded.

The staff led him inside, and the moment the doors opened, Garrett understood why the exterior alone hadn’t fully prepared him for it.

The ceilings stretched impossibly high above him, tall enough that his footsteps seemed to disappear into the space rather than echo off it. Sunlight poured through windows that ran nearly floor to ceiling along one side of the entrance hall, illuminating an arrangement of flowers taller than Garrett himself, sitting in a vase was well above his living cost.

The floors gleamed underfoot, polished stone that reflected the light back up in soft, diffused patches. Paintings lined the walls at careful intervals, A staircase curved up from the far end of the hall, wide enough for several people to walk up side by side, and beyond it Garrett caught a glimpse of what looked like a private elevator tucked discreetly into the wall.

He didn’t spend the walk thinking this is expensive, over and over, the way he might have the first time he’d set foot somewhere like this. Instead he noticed the practical shape of it. How the corridors stretched long enough that furniture had been placed at intervals just to keep them from feeling empty. How a chandelier hung in the hallway itself, not just the main rooms, like even the transitional spaces deserved that level of attention.

What struck him more than any single detail was how many people seemed to be quietly working throughout the house without the place ever feeling busy. A door opened ahead of them before anyone reached for it. Someone appeared briefly further down a corridor, adjusting something on a side table, then disappeared again just as quietly.

Garrett’s flat, by comparison, could have fit inside this entrance hall several times over and still had room left.

Eventually, they reached a comfortable sitting room, warmly furnished despite its size, and Emiliana was already there, standing as soon as she saw him.

She crossed the room quickly, wrapping her arms around him the moment she reached him, the hug lasting longer than their usual greetings.

It felt different this time. He wasn’t here for a few hours, wasn’t going to be catching a ride home once the evening wound down. This was the start of something that would actually stretch across days.

"You’re here," she said, pulling back slightly to look at him.

"I’m here."

He glanced past her toward Owen, who’d followed them partway in before excusing himself toward whatever came next in his day.

Emiliana gestured around the sitting room, casual and easy. "I’m happy you’re finally here. Welcome to my humble abode."

Garrett looked around the room properly. High ceilings, an actual fireplace despite the size of the space, furniture that looked more comfortable than expensive-adjacent decor usually managed to be.

"Humble abode?" He gestured broadly at the room around them. "Emiliana, this is literally a mansion."

She laughed, unbothered. "Compared to some of the other properties my family owns, this one’s pretty normal, actually."

Garrett gave her a look. "That might be the most disconnected thing you’ve ever said to me."

"I stand by it."

"You do realize most people don’t have a scale for measuring which mansion counts as the humble one."

"I’m aware it sounds strange." She grinned, dropping onto the couch and patting the space beside her. "Doesn’t make it less true, though."

"This is just my life," Emiliana said as he sat down beside her. "I want you to actually see more of it while you’re here."

"Alright."

She glanced at him. "What do you want? Drink, food, anything?"

"I’m fine with whatever. Something to drink would be good."

Emiliana turned slightly toward the doorway. "Nancy, could you bring us a bottle of soft drink, please?"

A woman appeared within moments, having apparently been close enough to hear the request without needing to be summoned more directly, and disappeared again with a polite nod. She returned roughly two minutes later, drinks in hand, setting them down carefully before excusing herself just as quietly as she’d arrived.

"Thanks," Garrett said, and Nancy offered a small smile before leaving them to it.

Emiliana studied him for a moment once they were alone again, something appreciative in her expression. "You look good, by the way."

"Thanks."

She tilted her head slightly. "Those clothes are new, aren’t they?"

Garrett took offense. "What, you don’t believe I own clothes like this normally?"

"I mean." She gave him a look, entirely unapologetic. "I wasn’t exactly expecting it."

"Wow. Low opinion of me, apparently."

"I never said low, Just...realistic." She grinned, clearly enjoying herself. "So, what prompted the wardrobe upgrade?"

"Went shopping this morning. Figured it was overdue."

"Well, it actually worked. Very convincingly."

The conversation drifted easily from there, settling into the comfortable rhythm they’d built over the last several weeks, Emiliana asking about his day, Garrett filling in details without dragging the whole thing into anything heavier than it needed to be.

Eventually, Emiliana glanced around the room, some restless energy creeping into her expression.

"Okay. Enough sitting around." She stood, offering him a hand. "Let me show you the house."

Garrett got up, taking her hand loosely as he did.

Whatever came next, he had a feeling this was going to take a while.