Daddy's Rival 2: 1. The Enemy's Eye

Lila's POV

The chandeliers of the Langston Grand glittered like a thousand frozen fireworks, scattering gold light across marble floors polished enough to blind. My father’s annual gala was in full swing — waiters gliding with champagne, men in sharp tuxedos murmuring deals behind practiced smiles, women in jewel-bright gowns laughing like they weren’t calculating every word.

I’d been here before, always as the dutiful daughter — smiling, shaking hands, pretending I didn’t see the way people looked at me and then at my father, assessing how they could use one to get to the other. But tonight felt different. I don't know how I knew it but I could feel it. 

I didn’t notice him at first.

What I noticed was the silence. 

It rippled outward, subtle but real — the kind of shift that happens when a predator walks into the room. People glanced up, voices lowered, and then I saw him.

Alexander Draven.

He was taller than mos