Eli cleared his throat once, low, deliberate â the kind of sound that sliced through silence instead of filling it. Not surprising, since Eli wasn't polite and yielding like Jonathan. âMr. Vale,â he began carefully, tone like he was tiptoeing through glass, which surprised her. He wasn't particularly obedient but perhaps something changed seeing them like this. âWe have a situation.âLucian didnât look at him. Didnât move. Didnât even blink.The only acknowledgment was the slow exhale through his nose â a quiet, deadly sound that said this better be worth interrupting me.Serena folded her arms tighter, forcing her eyes away from Lucianâs face. She was still burning â from the argument, from his words, from her own mistake â but the air felt colder now. Sterile. Back to business. That was how he always liked it. Eli, to his credit, launched right in. âThe Devacraux PR team just issued a statement.âLucianâs jaw flexed once. âWhat statement?ââTheyâre confirming the engagement.âSer
âWhat is that supposed to mean?â Serena turned around, her voice sharper than she meant it to be. She heard him clearly. âWhat do you mean not like this?âLucian didnât flinch. He just stared at her, squarely, like she knew what he was talking about and he was annoyed at having to spell it out. Too bad. She will make him spell it down because she was simply sick of his silence. Serena doubled down, striding across the room until they were close enough for the air to spark. Her skin felt hot, her breath uneven. Fuck him, actually. She didnât have to be polite. She didnât have to twist herself into corners just to be tolerated. He was obviously going to marry Seraphina. Obviously getting rid of her once their three-year deal was up.âYou think Iâm incapable of dealing with it all?â she demanded. Her voice trembled, but not from fear. From fury. From the kind of anger that comes after being humiliated and still having to stand straight. âThat Iâm incapable of being a star?âThat heavine
Lucianâs Office â 10:47 A.M.The light in Vale Studios never softened.It hit hard, white and clean through the floor-to-ceiling windows, slicing across the dark wood and metal lines of his office like judgment. The kind of light that made truth look uglier.Serena stepped in when Jonathan opened the door.She hated how small she felt in hereâlike she was stepping into a war room, not a workspace. The skyline burned behind Lucian, his silhouette cut in half by the glass.He didnât look up right away. Just kept flipping through a file, every page turned with surgical precision. There was coffee steaming beside him, untouched.âSit,â he said finally.Serena did. Quietly.Her throat was dry, her pulse loud in her ears. Sheâd spent half the night convincing herself she wouldnât let him rattle her, and the other half wondering why she cared so much about being rattled at all. Lucian finally looked at her. His gaze was too steady, too knowing.âYou congratulated me last night,â he said. â
đŞď¸ General Public & Gossip Accounts@PopPulseMediađ¨ BREAKING: Power producer Lucian Vale and Hollywoodâs reigning queen Seraphina Devacraux are reportedly ENGAGED after being spotted at a private jeweler in West Hollywood đđ> âPower Move or Power Couple?â is trending for a reason.@ThatLAInsiderIf Lucian Vale is marrying Seraphina Devacraux, Hollywoodâs about to eat itself alive. The man controls the projects. The woman is the projects.@CineFemmeBlogEvery time women talk about dismantling the system, Seraphina decides to marry it.@TeaWithToriSeraphina really said âIf you canât beat the patriarchy, own the patriarch.â đ@CinemaCrumbsImagine being Serena Rivera tonight. You show up at the Devacraux Gala, and the roomâs headline belongs to your producer and the woman you replaced. Hollywood is COLD. âď¸đ Seraphina Devacraux Fans (The Seraphinites)@SeraphiniteQueenOur girlâs finally securing her throne. She built Hollywood, she deserves to own it. đ@HouseOfDevacrauxLuci
The car ride was too quiet.Not the peaceful kind of quiet â the heavy kind. The kind that hums with all the things no oneâs willing to say.Serena sat beside the window, eyes fixed on the blur of lights outside the tinted glass. Beverly Hills bled by in fractured golds and silvers, the city alive in a way she wasnât. Her reflection stared back at her â mascara smudged, lipstick fading, the thin chain around her neck barely hidden beneath her collarbone.Across from her, Lucian sat with the same stillness heâd worn all evening. Cold and contained. Which was worse, somehow.The silence between them was so sharp it made even the purr of the car sound nervous.Jonathan sat in the front driver seat, body angled just enough to pretend he wasnât paying attention. Gia was beside him, scrolling through her phone â but Serena caught her glancing into the rearview mirror every other minute, concern flickering like a candle she couldnât snuff out.Finally, her curiosity won out and Gia cleared h
Lucian Vale stood at the edge of the table, shadow cutting across velvet and crystal. His gaze landed squarely on Serena, not Tina, not Vivian. Her breath caught at the sheer gravity of it.âMiss Rivera,â His voice was calm, but it carried like a blade through velvet. âA word.âAiden didnât move. Vivianâs expression flickeredâsatisfaction, maybe. Tinaâs lips curved into the ghost of a smirk.Serena straightened, forcing the polite mask back on her face. âOf course. But I was justâââNow.âThe word landed heavy, leaving no space for pretense.âLucian,â she began quietly, âthis isnâtââHis hand brushed the back of her chairânot touching, but close enough that she felt the pulse of his possession. âIf youâll excuse us.âNo one argued. Who would dare?Serenaâs pulse thundered as she rose, her chair sliding back too abruptly. Lucian didnât look at Tina or Vivian, didnât acknowledge Aidenâs faint smirkâjust guided her away, his hand hovering steady at the small of her back.Only when theyâd