LOGINShe looked down at my dying body, disgust written into every line of her face. “You really thought I was on your side?” she whispered. “How pathetic.” Blood filled my mouth as I smiled bitterly. So this was the price of trust. ~~~ They destroyed her marriage to Lucien, tricked her into signing papers that erased her name, her future, even her very existence. She gave them her heart, her loyalty, her life… and they repaid her with betrayal sharp enough to kill her or maybe it actually did. A few forged smiles, a few carefully chosen lies. One signature was all it took to strip her of everything, her name, her fortune, even her freedom. Her best friend, her childhood sweetheart. The only people she believed loved her. They didn’t just take her wealth or her freedom, they took her body, piece by piece, until death was the only thing left. But fate wasn’t done with Aria. When she opened her eyes again, she wasn’t on a cold operating table, she was back at the beginning. Before the lies, before the signatures, before the knife slid in. This time, she wouldn’t be naive. This time, she wouldn’t love blindly. She would rewrite her future, step by step. She would make them pay, before they even realized the game had changed. And Lucien… The man she once abandoned, the regret she carried even into death. This time, she would choose him. Could she destroy them all… and still hold onto the one thing she loved most, or would revenge demand a price too high even for her?
View MoreAria's POV.
The first thing I felt was that sharp and intense pain.
It wasn't the dull kind that comes with waking up from a very long sleep, instead, this one was fiercely sharp and somewhat painful. The feeling of a blade cutting between my ribs, the ironic taste of blood seeping through my mouth and the cold touch of the surgical table beneath my naked skin.
"So, you really thought I was on your side?"
Lydia's voice continued to sound in my head filled with extreme contempt.
"How pathetic."
My eyes snapped open as I stared upward directly at the white ceiling above me, then my gaze suddenly moved abruptly to the duvet on my body as I took in the faint scent of sandalwood and expensive leather that was unmistakably his.
I instantly jerked up, my heart beating so fast as I instantly turned towards the window.
Lucien Blackwood sat there, his body stunningly lit by morning sun, looking like a model that stepped out of a magazine spread. His body was elegantly adorned by the tailored charcoal suit that probably cost more than most people's yearly salary and a crisp white shirt with his dark hair perfectly styled. Even after what must have been an all-night vigil, he was still… flawless.
He was watching me with the stillness of a predator, beautiful and dangerous in equal measure.
Those steel-grey eyes held no warmth, just endless, patient vigilance. One hand rested on his temples while the other held a crystal glass of whiskey.
Geez, he was so beautiful, devastatingly, unfairly beautiful in a way that made my chest ache.
How had I spent five months looking at this man and seeing only a captor? How had I been so blind?
"You're awake," he said, his voice low and smooth.
I looked down at my wrists and I gasped in shock when I saw fresh bandages with spots of red seeping through it.
Then, almost immediately, the memories of last night crashed over me like a tidal wave. The memories of the bathroom, the cold press of the razor blade against my skin as I remembered my own voice, shrill and desperate, "I'd rather die than stay in this cage with you! Let me go, Lucien! Let me go or I swear I'll do it!"
I'd meant it as a threat, the final card I could play. I'd tried everything else over the past five months, crying, pleading, raging, destroying his priceless antiques, calling the police, even trying to seduce him into lowering his guard but nothing had worked.
Lucien never reacted, he never shouted, never showed anger or hurt or frustration.
He just... endured with that maddening calm that made me want to scream.
So last night, I'd escalated, I'd locked myself in the bathroom, found his razor, and pressed it to my wrist. Though it wasn't deep enough to actually die, of course, I wasn't that stupid but it was actually enough for me to bleed, enough to scare him, enough to finally break that iron control.
And surprisingly, it had worked.
I remembered the door shattering, the way Lucien had appeared in the doorway like an avenging angel, his usual composure cracked just enough for me to see something raw and terrified flash across his perfect features just for about three seconds. Then the mask had slammed back into place, and he'd simply lifted me effortlessly, like I weighed nothing and carried me to the bed. His movements had been fluid, controlled, almost graceful despite the blood on his hands… my blood.
He'd bandaged my wrists with steady, methodical precision, like he was performing a surgery, like this was just another problem to solve in his perfectly ordered wealthy life.
Then he had sat in that chair and apparently stayed there all night.
But mixed with those memories were others, ones that shouldn't exist yet. Memories of dying on a surgical table seven months from now, of Ethan's cold smile, of Lydia's satisfied eyes, of the moment before death when I'd remembered everything and realized I'd spent my last months destroying the only person who'd ever truly loved me.
"What day is it?" I asked, my voice rough.
"August 20th." He took a slow sip of the whiskey as I watched his Adam's apple move in his throat. Even that simple movement was graceful. "Five months since you woke up with no memory, five months since you started trying to escape from me."
There was no emotion in his voice, just facts stated calmly.
But I saw the tension in his shoulders, the tight line of his jaw. The way his fingers gripped the glass just a fraction too hard.
"Lucien…"
"Get up," he interrupted, setting down the glass with precise control. "Breakfast is ready, you need to eat." He said without leaving any room for choices.
He moved toward the door with that predatory grace, then paused without looking back.
"Don't try the windows, they're reinforced and alarmed. Don't try the service entrance, my security team is stationed there. Don't even try to call anyone, your phone is monitored." His voice was soft, almost gentle. "And don't try to hurt yourself again, because if you do, I'll have a medical team here 24/7. You won't have a moment alone. Is that clear?"
I should have felt threatened or angry at being treated like a prisoner but instead, all I felt was guilt.
Because he wasn't being cruel, he was just exhausted from five months of my escape attempts.
"Clear," I whispered.
He left without another word.
I got up on shaky legs as I gazed at my reflection in the mirror. I was so pale and hollow-eyed, the bandages on my wrists was stark white against my skin.
“This guy has such a bad taste. I won't even marry myself like this.“ I said as I shook my head in self-pity.
~~~
When I made my way downstairs fifteen minutes later, I found Lucien in the dining room.
Aria's POVHe stayed behind me for a long moment, the heat of his presence grounding me even as the data on the screen tried to pull me into a vortex of paranoia. I could feel the slight tension in his posture. He was looking at the graphs, but I knew he was really looking at me."The jet is fueled," he said, his voice regaining its usual steady cadence. "But before we go, I want to know exactly what you’re planning to do with that information. You’re not just going to hand it to David Park, are you?"I turned the chair around, looking up at him. "Park is good for finding people, Lucien. But he doesn't understand the nuance of behavioral economics. He sees a target, I see a pattern. If we just go to Geneva and try to
Aria's POVI sighed and took a bite. "Fine. But you're paying for this.""I always pay, Aria. It’s part of the contract."We ate in a comfortable, loaded silence for a few minutes. Lucien watched me with that steady, unhurried attention that always made me feel like he was reading my thoughts in real-time. He wasn't the "Dark Lord" right now, he was just a man enjoying a meal with his wife, but the authority was still there, woven into the way he sat and the way he held his glass."Mercer isn't just a consultant," I said, setting my fork down after the required three bites. "I went back through the LSE alumni records while you were on that call with David Park. He did
Aria's POV"Always," he replied.He didn’t move. He stayed right there, looming over me in the confined space of the elevator, his hand still firm on the back of my neck. The elevator began its smooth, silent descent, and for a few seconds, the only sound was the faint hum of the machinery and the steady rhythm of his breathing.I looked up at him, my heart still doing that strange, fluttering thing. "You didn’t tell me Halloway was on the list. You let me walk into that room thinking we were just fishing.""I told you I had the beginning of an idea," Lucien said, his voice dropping into that low, resonant tone that always seemed to vibrate right through me. "I didn't want you overthinking your performance. If you kne
~Aria's POV~The boardroom of the Blackwood building felt like a courtroom. Twelve men and women sat around the long glass table, their faces masks of professional indifference. At the head of the table, Lucien sat with his jacket unbuttoned, looking bored, his fingers drumming a slow, rhythmic beat on the surface.I sat to his right. I’d chosen a sharp, emerald-green suit, a color Lucien had once called 'dangerous.' I had my tablet open, but I wasn't looking at spreadsheets. I was looking at the people in the room."The Victor Hale situation has been handled," Lucien said, his voice flat and unhurried. "The police have him. The acquisition strategy he was pursuing is dead.""And the Mercer connection
Aria's POVI heard a soft, dry chuckle. It was the sound of a woman who had just been handed the ultimate leverage. She knew exactly why he was staying, it was the "Aria effec
Aria's POV"It’s been buzzing for three minutes, Lucien," I whispered, reaching back to stroke his hair. "It might be important ."He finally reached out, his hand grabbing the&z
Aria's POVLucien was still standing by the darkened television, his silhouette cast in jagged red by the emergency lights. He looked like a king standing amidst the ruins of his palace. His chest was heaving, his hand still white-knuckled around the grip of his gun."Lucien?" I
Aria's POV I didn't waste a second. I grabbed a trench coat to cover my disheveled state and followed Marcus and Chen down the private elevator. The air in the garage felt different, it was thicker and charged with the kind of static that precedes a storm."We take the armored SUV," Mar
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