CHAPTER 10

Lucien’s POV

The following day in my office, Daniel walked into my office and he looked uneasy.

“Sir, we found something,” he said.

I looked up from my desk. “What is it?”

He held out a file. “The person your wife met with was a private investigator.”

My body went still. “Where?”

“At a cafe near the old train station. We have footage of it. The man’s name is Martin Hale.”

The name meant nothing to me, but the betrayal did.

I closed the file and leaned, staring at the ceiling. “So she’s been investigating behind my back.”

Daniel nodded “Yes, sir.”

My jaw tightened but didn’t shout, but the air in the room turned cold. “Follow the man,” I said finally. “Find out who he worked for and what he gave her. Do not lose him.”

“Yes, sir.”

When Daniel left, and I sat there, staring at the door for a long time, didn't know whether to be angry or afraid.

Elena was slipping away from me, one secret at a time.

That evening, I attended a charity gala hosted by my stepmother, Madelina Stone. The ballroom was filled with bright lights and louder voices and I hated these events, but I couldn’t avoid her invitations.

She greeted me at the entrance with her perfect smile. “Lucien,” she said warmly, her red nails brushed my arm. “How nice of you to come.”

“Mother,” I answered, and kept my tone flat.

Her smile flickers. “And where is your wife? Ah..there she is.”

I turned and saw Elena across the room, she looked fragile in her soft blue dress, her hair fell loosely on her shoulders. She was speaking to one of the sponsors, her hands folded neatly.

Madelina watched her too, but there was something sharp behind her smile. “Pretty, in a quiet way,” she murmured.

 “But quiet girls often have the loudest secrets, don’t they?”

I glanced at her. “What are you trying to say?”

She laughed lightly, and sipped her champagne. “Nothing, darling. I just wonder what she was really doing here. She didn’t seem like our kind.”

My patience thins. “She’s my wife. That’s all you need to know.”

Madelina’s eyes glittered. “Of course. But tell me, does she trust you?”

Before I could answer, she turned away, and smiled sweetly at the crowd again.

I looked back at Elena, her shoulders were tense and she looked uncomfortable under the watchful eyes around her.

Madelina moved closer to me again. “Lucien, dear,” she said softly, “some people only come into your life to destroy everything you built. Be careful who you love.”

Her words sank into me like ice.

I looked at her, and for the first time, I saw something behind that smile, a warning, or maybe a threat.

When the event ended, I walked Elena out to the car. She looks quiet, lost in thought and I wanted to ask her where she went last night again, but I stayed silent. I needed proof first.

Just as the driver started the engine, my phone rang, It was Daniel.

I answered immediately. “What did you find?”

His voice was low, and tense. “Sir… the investigator who met Mrs. Stone…he’s dead.”

I froze. “What?”

“Found in his office. No witnesses. No camera footage. Whoever did it knew what they were doing.”

My heart rang once, hard.

I glanced at Elena beside me, she was staring out the window, unaware.

The phone shook in my hand.

Someone was cleaning up her secrets, before I could reach them.

Later, I asked Elena to take another car and drive right to the scene. The car stopped in front of a small building on the city’s edge. Police lights flashed everywhere and I stepped out before the driver could open the door, the cold air hit my face.

“Where is he?” I asked sharply.

Daniel walked up fast. “Inside, sir.”

The moment I stepped into the narrow hallway, the smell of burnt rubber and fuel filled the air. The investigator’s office was half destroyed. Papers were scattered, chairs broken. On the floor, a dark stain stretches across the tiles.

“What happened?” I asked.

“They said it was a car accident,” Daniel answered quietly. “But it isn’t. He died here. Then they set his car on fire to cover it up.”

I stared at the floor, and my jaw locked. “So someone silenced him.”

“Yes, sir. He must have found something important. Something they didn’t want out.”

My mind raced, Elena met this man last night. Less than twenty-four hours later, he’s dead.

I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly and the smell of smoke stuck to my throat. “Did he leave anything?”

Daniel shook his head. “Everything’s wiped. Computer files, even the CCTV in the building.”

I turned to him. “Then start over. Trace every person he called, every message he sent before he died. Someone knows something.”

“Yes, sir.”

I look at the stain again. For the first time, fear crawls inside me, not for myself, but for her. Whoever killed this man will come after Elena next.

The following morning, I watched her for a moment. I wanted to tell her everything, the danger, the murder, but I stopped myself. If I tell her, she would only panic. Or run.

So I kept my tone calm. “You’re going somewhere today?”

“Just to the pharmacy,” she said. “I have a headache.”

I nodded. “Take the driver.”

“I can go alone,” she said softly.

“I said take the driver.”

Her shoulders stiffened, but she didn’t argue, but I saw the fear in her eyes, she knew I was not asking.

When she left, I turned to Daniel, who was standing near the door. “I want two of our men to follow her. No uniforms. She must not know.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Daniel,” I added, my voice was low. “If anyone gets close to her, anyone, deal with it quietly.”

He nodded once and left.

I sat back in silence, my hand tightened around the coffee mug. I have built empires, crushed enemies, and ruled entire markets, but I couldn't even control the chaos inside my own home.

Elena was in danger and she didn’t even trust me enough to let me protect her.

Hours later, Daniel returned with a tablet in his hand and his face was grim.

“Sir,” he said, handing it to me.

On the screen was a blurry image, Elena standing near a gate, looking around nervously. A man in a black hoodie reached out and gave her an envelope.

The background sign reads: St. Luke’s Hospital.

The same hospital where Jace disappeared.

I stared at the screen, my heart rang slowly, painfully.

I kept staring at the image, her hand touching that envelope. Her eyes were full of fear.

“Elena,” I whispered under my breath.

What have you done?