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Lucian

作者: Untiee
last update 最終更新日: 2025-06-26 14:55:54

I watched Lexi gather her things, shoving clothes into her worn duffel bag with sharp, angry movements. Every item she packed felt like another step away from me.

"You don't have to leave," I said from the doorway of her room. "This is your space. I gave it to you for a reason."

She didn't look up. "What reason, Lucian? To keep your pet close by?"

The words stung more than I wanted to admit. "That's not what this is."

"Isn't it?" She finally turned to face me, her green eyes blazing. "I've been living in your house for weeks, eating your food, wearing clothes you bought me, working a job you created for me. How is that not being a pet?"

"Because you earned your place here." I stepped into the room, careful to keep my distance. "The day you confronted Harrison about his embezzlement scheme, the way you handle every business meeting we attend together, you're not here because I'm taking care of you. You're here because you make me better at what I do."

"Then why do I feel like I can't breathe?"

Her voice broke slightly on the last word, and something twisted painfully in my chest. I wanted to cross the room, pull her into my arms. But I couldn't. I wouldn't let myself.

"Because Giselle got into your head," I said instead. "She's good at that. Finding people's insecurities and twisting them."

She blinked. Surprised at how I knew she had met with Giselle.

I had sent a message to Rodriguez to find out who had contacted Lexi in the last twenty four hours and he found out it was Giselle.

"Maybe she didn't twist anything. Maybe she just showed me the truth." Lexi zipped up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "I need some space, Lucian. Time to figure out who I am when I'm not living in your shadow."

For the first time in decades, I felt scared. "How long?" I whispered.

"I don't know."

The uncertainty in her voice scared me more than if she'd said forever. At least forever had finality to it. This felt like watching her slip away slowly, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

"What about your job?"

She was silent for a while. "I'll still do the job. I'll still attend the meetings, still be your consultant. But I need to go home at the end of the day. To my own space, my own life."

She walked past me towards the door, and I caught a whiff of her perfume, a light floral scent that I'd grown used to smelling in the hallways of my penthouse. Soon, that would fade too.

"Lexi." I called. She stopped but didn't turn around. "The reason I gave you this room wasn't to control you."

"Then why?"

I stared at her back, at the tense line of her shoulders, at the way she held herself like she was ready to run at any moment.

"Because I care about you," I said quietly. "More than I should.

She did turn around then, and I saw something flicker in her eyes.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that every instinct I have tells me to keep you close, to make sure you're safe, to..." I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated with my inability to find the right words. "I'm not some selfish billionaire who keeps people around for their selfish gain. I've seen what my world does to people. The pressure, the scrutiny, the constant threat of someone trying to use you to get to me." I thought about Sarah, my personal assistant who thought she could have me. She took her life to bring me down because I didn't love her. Because I told her I would never love her. "I won't do that to you, Lexi."

"So you gave me a room in your house but kept me at arm's length." She shrugged.

"I gave you a room in my house because I'm selfish enough to want you close, but not selfish enough to drag you into something that could destroy you."

She was quiet for a long moment, studying my face. "What if I want to be dragged?"

The question hit me like a physical blow. "You don't know what you're asking."

"Don't I? Lucian, I've been living in your world for weeks now. I've seen the business meetings, the media attention, the way people look at us when we're together. I know what I'm getting into."

"You know a fraction of it." My voice came out harsher than I intended. "You haven't seen what happens when the media really turns on you. When every mistake you've ever made gets dragged out and examined under a microscope. When people you've never met decide they hate you just because of who you're associated with."

"Like Giselle did today?"

"Giselle was just the beginning." I moved closer, close enough to see the flecks of gold in her green eyes. "There will be others. People who want to hurt me will try to hurt you. People who want something from me will try to use you to get it."

"So what are you saying? That we can never be more than whatever this is?"

"I'm saying that I care about you too much to make that decision for you. You want space? Take it. Figure out who you are outside of my influence. And then, if you still want to be part of this..." I gestured vaguely at the opulent surroundings of my penthouse. "We'll talk."

She shifted her bag to her other shoulder. "And if I decide I don't want this?"

I shut my eyes. I had been avoiding that question. "Then I'll respect that decision."

"Even if it hurts?"

"Especially if it hurts." I forced myself to step back, to put distance between us again. "Because that's what you do for people you care about. You put their happiness before your own."

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. Sr was still mad. "You know, for a ruthless billionaire, you're surprisingly decent."

"Don't let that get around. It'll ruin my reputation." I smiled but she didn't respond.

"Lexi." I called softly, she looked at me expectantly. "Some things aren't negotiable. Your safety is one of them.”

She turned and left without saying a word.

After she left, I stood in her room for a long time, breathing in the last traces of her presence. The bed was made with military precision, the surfaces clear of personal items. It was like she'd never been there at all.

Except for the book on the nightstand. A worn paperback copy of Pride and Prejudice that she'd been reading before bed each night. She'd left it behind, whether intentionally or not.

I picked it up and flipped through the pages, noting the passages she'd underlined, the comments she'd written in the margins. Her thoughts, her opinions.

Maybe that was enough for now. Maybe friendship was all we could handle, all we could risk.

But as I closed the book and turned off the lights, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was making the biggest mistake of my life by letting her walk away.

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  • Chasing The Boss   Lucian

    The conference room at Cross Media Entertainment had never felt smaller. Twelve board members sat around the polished mahogany table, their faces set with the grim determination of executioners. At the head of the table, Harrison Webb shuffled through papers like a judge preparing to read a verdict."Before we begin the vote," Webb said, his voice carrying the weight of five years of professional relationship, "I want to give you one last chance to reconsider, Lucian. End the relationship. Issue a public statement. We can spin this as a temporary lapse in judgment."I looked around the table at people I'd once considered allies. Some avoided my eyes. Others stared back with cold calculation. A few, like Morrison, actually looked disappointed that I'd forced their hand."No," I said simply."Then we proceed with the vote." Webb's expression didn't change, but I caught the flicker of something, regret, maybe, in his eyes. "All in favor of removing Lucian Cross as CEO of Cross Media Ente

  • Chasing The Boss   Lexi

    I woke up on Mia's couch to the sound of my phone buzzing incessantly. Sunlight streamed through the windows, and for a blissful moment, I forgot why my chest felt like it had been carved out with a rusty spoon. Then reality crashed back down.Lucian. The board meeting. Walking away from everything.My phone showed seventeen missed calls from numbers I didn't recognize, plus another dozen texts from Lucian that I still couldn't bring myself to read. But it was the notification from my news app that made my blood run cold."CROSS MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT IN CHAOS: CEO FACES BOARD REVOLT"My hands shook as I opened the article. The headline was bad enough, but the content was worse. Someone had leaked details about the board meeting, about the vote of no confidence, about the ultimatum they'd given Lucian. And my name was splashed across every paragraph like a scarlet letter."Sources close to the company confirm that Cross's relationship with former employee Lexi Carter has created a crisis

  • Chasing The Boss   Lucian

    I stared at my phone for the hundredth time, watching my calls go to voicemail. Lexi wasn't just avoiding me, she was shutting me out completely. And with every unanswered call, every ignored text, I felt her slipping further away."Sir?" Marcus appeared in my doorway, looking as exhausted as I felt. "The board is requesting another meeting.""Tell them to go to hell.""Sir, with respect, that's not going to solve anything."I looked up at him, seeing the concern in his usually impassive face. Marcus had been with me for eight years. He'd seen me through hostile takeovers, failed deals, and media scandals. But he'd never seen me like this."She's gone, Marcus." The words tasted like poison. "I finally found something that mattered more than this company, and I lost her because of it.""You haven't lost her yet.""She resigned. She moved out. She won't take my calls." I laughed bitterly. "What part of that suggests I haven't lost her?""The part where she cried when she walked out of h

  • Chasing The Boss   Lexi

    Walking away from Lucian was the hardest thing I'd ever done. Every step toward his office door felt like I was tearing a piece of my heart out and leaving it behind. But I couldn't look back. If I looked back, I'd run straight into his arms and damn the consequences.The elevator ride down felt endless. My reflection in the polished steel doors showed a woman I barely recognized, hollow-eyed, pale, broken. Three weeks ago, I thought I'd found my fairy tale. Tonight, I was living in the ashes of what could have been.Mia was waiting for me in the lobby, her face creased with worry. "Lexi? How did it go?""It's over." The words came out as a whisper. "I ended it."She wrapped her arms around me as I finally let myself fall apart. "Oh, honey. I'm so sorry.""Take me somewhere," I sobbed into her shoulder. "Anywhere but here."Mia drove us to her apartment in silence while I stared out the window at the city lights blurring through my tears. Every billboard, every building reminded me of

  • Chasing The Boss   Lucian

    I watched Lexi flee from the press conference, and every instinct I had screamed at me to follow her. But I had to finish this. I had to control the narrative before it spiraled completely out of control."Mr. Cross!" A reporter shouted. "Is it true that Miss Carter was living with you while working on company projects?""Miss Carter is a talented consultant who has brought tremendous value to Cross Media," I replied firmly. "Our personal relationship developed separately from our professional one.""But isn't there a conflict of interest?" another reporter pressed."Miss Carter reports to the consulting department head, not directly to me. All protocols have been followed." It was a lie, but a necessary one."What about Giselle Laurent? Sources say she's been vocal about your new relationship."I felt my jaw tighten. "I have no comment on Miss Laurent's opinions. This press conference is about setting the record straight regarding malicious rumors and invasion of privacy.""So you're

  • Chasing The Boss   Lexi

    Three weeks. Three beautiful, wonderful weeks of being with Lucian. I moved back into his penthouse, and this time it felt different. It felt real. We were always together, and every morning I woke up felt like a dream I was afraid to wake up from.But it seems like dreams have a way of turning into nightmares."Did you see this?" Mia burst into the coffee shop, her phone clutched in her hand. Her eyes were wide with concern."See what?" I looked up from my cup.She placed her phone on the table, and my blood turned to ice. The headline read. "BILLIONAIRE'S SECRET AFFAIR: Lucian Cross Caught in Compromising Position with Employee."The photo showed Lucian and me in what looked like an intimate embrace. But I knew exactly when this was taken. It was last week when I'd tripped getting out of his car and he'd caught me. From the angle of the shot, it looked like we were kissing passionately against his car."Oh God," I whispered, scrolling through the article. The comments were even wors

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