Chapter 1

We had just landed after a month overseas.

After collecting our luggage from the private terminal, Lucian stepped away to take an important phone call, leaving me near the exit with our suitcases.

"I'll only be a minute," he said, brushing a light kiss against my forehead.

I smiled despite myself. "Don't keep me waiting."

A rare smile tugged at his lips before he disappeared into the crowd.

I watched him go for a moment, then reached for my suitcase.

"Well... if it isn't Aurora."

The familiar voice sent a chill down my spine.

Of all the people I could have run into after a month away, it had to be them.

I turned slowly.

Damian Rossi.

Standing beside him, with one hand wrapped possessively around his arm, was Seraphina.

She looked as flawless as ever, dressed in designer clothes with an innocent smile that had fooled everyone for years. If I didn't know her better, I might have believed she was the victim in all of this.

Damian's eyes swept over the designer luggage at my feet before drifting toward the direction Lucian had walked. His gaze lingered on the waiting chauffeur outside the terminal, and something unreadable flashed across his face.

Then Lucian returned.

Without a word, his hand settled naturally against the small of my back.

The simple gesture made Damian's eyes narrow.

His gaze slowly traveled from Lucian's hand to his face before a mocking smile spread across his lips.

"So this is your grand plan?" he sneered, looking directly at me. "You found some rich guy to pretend to be your boyfriend just to make me jealous?"

He chuckled as though he'd finally figured me out.

"I hate to disappoint you, Aurora, but it's not working."

I almost rolled my eyes.

Some things never changed.

Even after betraying me, divorcing me, and running straight into my sister's arms, Damian still believed he was the center of my universe.

Lucian remained silent, his arm resting comfortably around my waist, his expression impossible to read.

Damian looked him up and down with open disdain.

"Do you even know the kind of woman you're dating?" he asked. "She couldn't accept that I left her. This?" He gestured between us with a dismissive wave. "It's nothing more than a desperate attempt to get my attention."

I inhaled, ready to tell him exactly what I thought of his oversized ego.

Before I could speak, Lucian's thumb lightly brushed against my waist.

A silent message.

Leave this to me.

"Is that what you believe?" Lucian asked, his voice calm enough to make Damian sound even more ridiculous.

"What else am I supposed to think?" Damian scoffed. "She spent years chasing after me. Barely a month after our divorce, she suddenly has a boyfriend? Please."

"People move on."

Lucian's answer was simple.

Too simple.

Damian let out a laugh.

"Not Aurora."

He looked at me with the same smug superiority I'd grown to despise throughout our marriage.

"She's too obsessed with me."

I almost laughed.

Obsessed?

If only he knew.

Seraphina gently tugged at Damian's sleeve, lowering her gaze.

"Damian... maybe we should stop." Her voice was soft enough to draw sympathetic looks from the people walking past. Then she looked at me with eyes full of practiced pity. "Sis... I know you're hurting, but you don't have to do this. You deserve to find someone who can really make you happy."

The performance was flawless.

She sounded caring.

Compassionate.

Selfless.

Anyone listening would think she hadn't stolen her own sister's husband.

"I appreciate your concern," I replied evenly, "but I'm happier than I've been in a long time."

Her smile stiffened for just a fraction of a second before it returned.

Lucian finally met Damian's eyes.

"If believing that helps you sleep at night," he said evenly, "then keep believing it."

Silence settled between us.

For the first time since Damian opened his mouth, I watched his confidence falter.

He had expected an argument.

Instead, Lucian dismissed him as though he simply wasn't worth the effort.

A smile tugged at my lips.

Lucian could have ended this conversation with a single sentence.

He could have revealed that he wasn't just another wealthy businessman.

He was Lucian Moretti.

The man powerful families feared.

The head of the Moretti Mafia.

But he wouldn't.

The overseas project we'd spent the last month negotiating was too important to risk. Until the final agreement was signed, his identity had to remain hidden. To Damian and Seraphina, he was nothing more than my wealthy boyfriend.

And judging by the way Damian's jaw tightened...

That alone was enough to bruise his ego.

Without sparing Damian another glance, Lucian gently took my suitcase from my hand.

"Shall we?" he asked.

I nodded.

Together, we walked past Damian and Seraphina as if they were nothing more than strangers we'd happened to cross paths with.

The silence stung more than any insult could have.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Damian's face darken.

He wasn't used to being ignored.

His pride wouldn't let it go.

"Aurora!" he barked.

Neither of us stopped.

His footsteps echoed across the polished airport floor, growing louder with every second.

"You think you've won?" he shouted.

I sighed inwardly.

Some people simply couldn't accept that the world didn't revolve around them.

Just as we reached the sliding doors, Damian grabbed my wrist.

"Let go of me."

Instead, his grip tightened.

"I wasn't finished talking."

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Lucian stepped between us.

His expression didn't change.

His voice remained calm.

"I believe she told you to let go."

Damian scoffed.

"And who the hell are you to—"

Before he could finish, Lucian drove a swift kick into Damian's shin.

Caught completely off guard, Damian stumbled backward, lost his balance, and crashed onto the polished floor with a startled grunt.

A wave of gasps rippled through the people nearby.

Seraphina hurried to his side.

"Damian!"

He looked up in disbelief, his face burning with humiliation.

"You—"

Lucian didn't let him finish.

He straightened the cuff of his sleeve as though nothing unusual had happened.

"The next time a woman tells you not to touch her," he said evenly, "listen."

His tone wasn't loud.

It didn't need to be.

The quiet authority in his voice carried far more weight than shouting ever could.

Damian's jaw clenched, but for the first time since I'd known him, he seemed unsure of himself.

Lucian took my hand.

"Let's go."

I squeezed his fingers, unable to hide the smile tugging at my lips.

"Gladly."

Without another word, we walked out of the airport together, leaving Damian sitting on the floor, seething as curious onlookers whispered among themselves.

Only when we reached the waiting car did I glance back.

Damian was still glaring at us.

His fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles had turned white.

For the first time since our divorce...

He wasn't looking at me with superiority.

He was looking at Lucian with something far more dangerous.

Envy.

And he still had no idea who the man beside me really was.