Under the Veil I Rule

Chapter 20

With that, Amara shoved Keith out the door just at the moment when Keith got all riled up.

At the Everly family estate, Kevin sat in a plush leather armchair, deep in thought. When Lisa came by with a cup of coffee, he stopped her and asked, "Are Finn and Ama still the same way these days?"

By "the same way", he meant that they were living in separate rooms, both busy with their own lives, hardly ever crossing paths.

Lisa nodded. "Yes, living under the same roof but hardly seeing each other. How's that supposed to work?" Kevin slammed his hand on the armrest. "That useless boy, he's really hopeless!"

Lisa's eyes darted around, and she leaned in with a whisper. "Ama seems like a good kid. If they spend more time together, Finn is bound to like her. Maybe we should give them a little nudge."

Unbeknownst to Amara, things were stirring at the Everly estate. She had been busy observing film shoots on set, filling her free time with reading and writing screenplays. She was content.

That afternoon, Finnian approached her. "Got time tonight? I need you to come with me to a dinner party." Amara was surprised. "What kind of dinner party?"

secret, and Finnian usually attended these events solo or with someone from the secretarial office. He'd never asked her to accompany him

place, just

behind closed doors, whispering about her scars and her invisible husband of three years. Amara was aware of it

as quickly as it

responded, lowering

though she didn't want to attend, they weren't officially divorced yet, and these were the duties of a wife she felt obligated to fulfill. But a voice inside her questioned why she should fulfill these duties when Finnian didn't fulfill his own,

what she needed, not

she must obliterate at once the thoughts

manor. After parking, they were led into a banquet

of the Everly family.

that often settled on Amara's body when no one noticed, making Amara's skin crawl. Bess was a vitriolic

for greetings, Amara simply nodded at Peter and Bess, making no effort to

friendly, almost as if they were trying to win

early twenties approached, his expression