Chapter 4 : My Knight In Shinning Armour

Lucia’s POV

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, my face pale, my eyes hollow. Hope was slipping away, dissolving into the same darkness that had swallowed everything else. How was I supposed to walk into work today, knowing I might see Tania? How could I stop myself from losing my mind at the mere sight of her?

I exhaled shakily and squared my shoulders. “I can do this. We need this friggin’ job.” My voice wavered, and for a moment, I nearly broke down in tears. But I forced myself to move. I reached for the dress I had bought last night, back when I had nowhere to go, nowhere to escape the rain. I had stumbled into a hotel, drenched and desperate, trying to figure out my next move.

Now, there was no more time for self-pity.

Slipping out of my room, I hailed a cab and arrived at the company just in time. I was about to clock in when my phone buzzed. A message.

“Meet me in my office.”

My stomach twisted. Fuck. Had I done something wrong?

I hurried down the hall, my heels clicking against the marble floor. The moment I stepped into my boss’s office, I felt the tension in the air. He was seated behind his desk, glaring at me like I was the filth beneath his shoes.

“Sir, you told me to—”

“Shut up, you bitch. How dare you?”

I froze. “Excuse me, sir?”

“How dare you put your filthy hands on my daughter over a man who isn’t even yours?”

My blood boiled. The rage clawed at my insides. Not mine? After three years of marriage, after everything, how dare he say that?

“With all due respect, sir—”

“You’re fired!”

I blinked, stunned. “Sir, I don’t understand how this has anything to do with my job. I can—”

“I don’t want a whore sharing the same office space with me.” His lips curled in disgust. “And truthfully, I never liked you, you spiteful bitch.”

I reeled back, stunned. A whore? This was the same man who had tried to fuck me, knowing full well I was married.

I opened my mouth, ready to unleash everything I had been holding in, but before I could speak, the office door swung open.

Tania strolled in, her smirk as smug as ever.

“Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in—a pathetic woman.”

It took everything in me not to launch at her. My fingers twitched with the urge to claw that smirk off her face.

“I can’t believe you would do this, Tania!” My voice cracked, raw with anger. “You have no shame!”

She only chuckled, unbothered.

“Harry and I have been married for three years,” I felt my breath hitch. “Happily married?” My voice was a whisper, a desperate denial.

Tania pushed herself off the wall, her movements slow and deliberate, like a predator closing in on its prey. “Please,” she scoffed, tilting her head. “You really think a couple of years makes him yours?” Her voice dripped with mockery. “He’s mine now.”

“Yours?” I spat, my nails digging into my palms. “Is that what you tell yourself after you must have manipulated him? Twisting everything to your advantage just because you can?” My chest heaved, my desperation rising like a tide.

Tania let out a sharp laugh, her smirk widening. “Me? Manipulating Harry?” She feigned amusement, placing a manicured hand over her chest. “Sweetheart, I’m just showing him what fun really looks like. Something you clearly failed to do in three years.”

I clenched my fists. “I would never take another woman’s man,” I shot back, stepping forward. “What kind of person does that?”

“The kind that wins,” she said smugly. “Face it, Lucia—you never had what it took to keep him happy. You lost. This is about competition now. And the best woman won.”

“Competition?” My voice cracked with disbelief. “You think this is a game?” My anger burned hotter, my vision blurring with fury. “You’re playing with real feelings—my feelings, my marriage!”

Tania rolled her eyes, her laugh dismissive. “Feelings?” She scoffed. “You mean your little fantasy of happily ever after? Wake up! This isn’t some rom-com where the faithful boring wife gets rewarded in the end.”

I felt something snap inside me. My pulse raced. “Enough!” My voice echoed through the office. “I won’t let you diminish what I had with Harry!”

Tania stepped closer, her eyes gleaming with amusement. “Then show me,” she taunted, her smirk widening. “Prove you can keep him. Fight for him, or just accept you’ve already lost.”

In a burst of raw emotion, I shoved her hard. Tania stumbled back, eyes widening in shock.

“How dare you?” she gasped, her surprise quickly replaced by rage.

“Don’t test me,” I warned, my voice shaking with anger.

Tania’s eyes flashed with something sinister. “Oh, look who’s finally grown a spine.” Without hesitation, she shoved me back—harder.

I lost my balance. My knees buckled beneath me. “No! Wait!” I cried, my arms flailing for something—anything—to steady myself. But there was nothing.

Pain shot through my body as I hit the ground, hard. A sharp, unbearable ache bloomed in my stomach, knocking the breath from my lungs. My hands instinctively flew to my abdomen as panic set in. Something wasn’t right.

Tania stood above me, grinning down with cruel satisfaction. “Pathetic,” she sneered. “Now, get the fuck out before I call security.”

I struggled to push myself up, my limbs trembling. The pain in my stomach worsened, but I gritted my teeth and forced myself to move. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of seeing me break.

I stumbled out of the office, my vision blurred by unshed tears, the weight of dozens of stares pressing down on me. Whispers filled the air like a suffocating fog, but I refused to meet their eyes. My only focus was moving forward, one painful step at a time, until I reached the elevator.

As the doors slid open, I collided head-on with something solid—a broad, unyielding chest.

"I'm so—"

“Are you okay?” The voice was deep, steady, and oddly familiar.

I looked up, blinking through my daze. “Mr. Lyon?”

His piercing gaze swept over me, assessing. “Well, if this isn't a surprise. How are you doing, Mrs. Stone?”

My stomach twisted at the name. “It’s no longer Mrs. Stone. And also—”

I paused mid-sentence, his eyes dropping to the floor. My gaze followed his, and I sucked in a breath. A small trickle of blood stained the white tile.

I stiffened. Had I hit the ground that hard?

“Well, that’s not looking good,” he muttered. Before I could react, he scooped me into his arms and stepped back into the elevator.

“Si—sir!” My protest was weak, drowned by a sudden wave of dizziness.

“Please overlook it, Mrs.—”

“Miss.”

His lips curled slightly. “Interesting. Miss Lucia. Regardless, I have no intention of letting you bleed all over the floor while I take you to my car.”

I blinked up at him. “Excuse me, sir?!”

“We’re going to the hospital. Also—do you feel any pain?”

Now that he mentioned it, a sharp cramp twisted in my abdomen. I had ignored it before, chalking it up to the impact of the fall, but it was growing worse.

“A little bit,” I admitted.

The elevator doors slid open, and he strode out without hesitation. Within moments, he had me in his car, his grip on the steering wheel tight as he sped toward the hospital.

********

“What happened?” A nurse rushed over the moment we arrived.

By now, the pain had become unbearable, each wave of it bringing fresh tears to my eyes. “My—my stomach,” I choked out. “It hurts.”

“Get a stretcher! We have an emergency!” the nurse called. Chaos erupted around me.

Then, her sharp gaze snapped to Mr. Lyon. “Who are you to her?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but he beat me to it.

“I’m her husband.”

I froze.

Why would he say that?

The nurse barely blinked. “Okay, sir. Please stand back while we assess the situation.”

He gave a curt nod, watching as they wheeled me away.

******

“YOU SAID WHAT?!”

My whole body shook as the doctor’s words settled in my mind, heavy and suffocating.

Ezra Lyon sat beside me, silent. He hadn’t left my side since we arrived.

The doctor’s voice was calm, almost apologetic. “I’m so sorry, ma’am. You were pregnant but miscarried due to the fall. This must be a difficult time, and we offer counseling services if—”

His voice faded into the background.

I lost the baby?

I stared down at my stomach, numb.

There had been life in there.

And they had snuffed it out.

Tania. Harry.

A raw, consuming rage surged through me. My fingers curled into the sheets, nails digging into the fabric.

“I’m going to kill them,” I whispered. “Every. Single. One. Of. Them.”

The doctor hesitated, exchanging a glance with Ezra. “I’ll give you two a moment,” he said before quietly exiting the room.

Ezra studied me, his expression unreadable.

“Lucia,” he said evenly. “Tell me what happened.”

With tears burning in my eyes, I told him everything. The betrayal. The humiliation. The loss.

When I finished, he leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly. “So… what do you want to do now?”

I met his gaze, my voice unwavering. “I want to crush them. Every single one of them.”

Ezra was silent for a moment, then his lips curved slightly.

“Call me Ezra,” he said. “And I can help you.”

Hope flickered in my chest, tangled with vengeance. “How?”

He leaned forward, eyes gleaming with something dark and dangerous.

“What are your thoughts on a contract marriage?”