Chapter 259

Mason’s POV

Layla’s laughter filled the kitchen as she took another bite of the food I had prepared for her. She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly.

“Mason, this is delicious,” she said, her voice brimming with genuine delight. “How do you always manage to make food taste this good? Are you secretly a magician in the kitchen?”

I forced a smile, though my stomach churned. “I guess I’ve had a lot of practice,” I replied, my voice steady, masking the turmoil inside me.

She chuckled and pointed her fork at me playfully. “You’re being modest. Logan always says you’re one of a kind. I bet if you opened your own restaurant, it’d be a hit!”

I didn’t respond immediately, my eyes glued to her as she continued eating so happily.

How could someone so innocent, so full of life, be sitting there, completely unaware of the danger she was in? She looked up at