LOGINElara's POV,
Everyone in the courtyard freeze, but I don't. I grab Asher, throw him over my shoulder, and bolt to the front gate. Asher screams, confused at what's happening, and I don't need to look back to know that Lucien had sent people after me."Get her!"
I'm athletic, so when the men come at me, I hit and kick at them, escaping their hold.
"You fools! What do I hire you for?"
I turn, still running, and stick my tongue out at him. He looks lethal but he isn't even chasing me, and I find out why soon enough.
I pass the gates successfully and tuck Asher in; he grabs my hand before I can move. "Mum, what are you doing? Why are we leaving Daddy?"
I bite my lip and yank my hand gently from his. I promise myself I'll explain as soon as we get to the airport. "I'm so sorry, Asher."
I get in, start the car, and press the accelerator to move, but... it doesn't. I ignite again and again and again and...
"No!!! No, you fucker Lucien!"
I bang my head on the steering wheel and panic when I see his men had surrounded the car. I flex my fingers, ready to do whatever it took to leave with my son. I dip my hand into my bag, hands wrapped around the hilt of the dagger when...
"Daddy!" I whip my head to see that Asher had somehow gotten past his buckles and run to Lucien. My eyes widen, and I hurriedly get out of the car, chasing after him. Lucien lifts Asher up and Asher points back at me. "Mummy wants to take me away without you. Don't let her, Daddy."
In that instant, I have flashbacks of when Asher and I stayed cuddled up in the bed, and he'd ask me about his father.
"Mum, other kids have fathers. Where's mine?" He'd ask, curling his chubby hand around my finger. I'd smile and kiss his head.
"I'm your father and mother. You're special. A special kid that has both his mother and father in one." I'd tickle him and he'd laugh, then hug me tight.
"I love you, mummy. I don't need a father." I knew he was too young to understand and that as he grows, he'd learn that having a father is criteria. But it wasn't necessary. And that's all that mattered.
Now, looking at him hugging Lucien tight and Lucien whispering sweet nonsense in his ears, I can't help but feel contempt. My eyes darken and my fists folds.
"Did you seriously think I wouldn't know what happening in my home?" Lucien asked, his voice as icy as the Atlantic ocean itself. I grit my teeth and force a smile.
"I don't know. I don't seem to see you these days . I had thought you'd forgotten all about us already." I say and Lucien's eyes darken. He gives Asher to the head house keeper and takes an angry step towards me.
"Thought?" His voice gets dangerously lower. "Or hoped?"
I fold my arms. "Can't it be both?"
He raises a brow and gestures to one of his men. Before I could react, two of them had grabbed my arm.
"Hey! What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I jerk my body but he'd already started to walk off. I kick the air as they pull me inside the compound."Hey! Hey!! I'm talking to you, dickhead!" I manage to kick a stone at his head and he stopped in his tracks, then turned to me with a fire buring in his eyes.
"You're starting to annoy me, Solis. You wouldn't want to do that."
"You're in my fucking way..."
"Of what? Of running away with my child?"
"He's my child too. I'm saving him from the likes of you! You don't deserve to be his father."
His pupils dilate and he takes long strides till he is up in my face. "What the fuck is your problem? I've done literally nothing to you..."
"You kidnapped me."
"....I've given you a job, a home, a high standing in society. All I ask is that my son lives with me. Why is that so hard for you?"
"You're hindering me from my freedom. I don't want a job, luxury cars, a mansion. I want freedom."
"And what about what he wants?" The housekeeper had taken Asher back inside but I remembered the way he clung to Lucien earlier.
"Asher was happy before you came along! How?! Why did you even find him? Our lives were perfect!"
"I want to give Asher what he deserves! A father!"
"A father is overrated! I'm everything he needs!"
"No! No you're not. You're a screwed-up woman who runs away with her tail between her legs the moment she senses danger. You're a coward woman that slept with me, had a child and couldn't look for his father. You're not fit to be a mother..."
I didn't let him finish. I heead butted him so hard that everyone froze. I spat on the ground and held back my tears. "How dare you..."
He held my jaw tight and I swallowed at the dangerous look in his eyes.
"Listen and listen closely, Elara Solis. I've tolerated that bullshit for too long. The nexxt time you lay even a finger on me. The next day, you're going shopping with a few of my men and on the road back, a truck driver would crash into you and you'd die. Or so, I'd tell Asher."
He pushed me back forcefully and snapped at his men, "Take her to her room. Bolt the door. Reinforce the windows with bars. One of you stay outside her room and bring me her laptop."
My eyes widen. No. No no no no no no no! He can't...He just can't!! He turned on his back and started walking back inside.
"Lucien!!! Come back, you asshole! You can't do this! I'm not a fucking prisoner! Stop! Let me go!" I buck and kick at the men but they were unfazed. Lucien didn't turn back.
"Lucien!"
Third Person’s POV, The professor’s office smells of old books and cheap disinfectant. Celene sits on the edge of the chair, scrunching up her nose and Seraphina crosses her legs with her smile sharpened to something decorative and dangerous.The professor clears his throat as he enters and Seraphina turns slowly to acknowledge him. Celene doesn’t. The professor frowns, wondering who these ladies are. “You said this was…” He sits opposite them. “Urgent.” “It is,” Celene replies smoothly, her voice clipped. She doesn’t smile and the Professor’s spine shivers. “We are concerned about a particular student.”Seraphina leans forward, resting an elbow on her knee, chin propped on her fingers. “Very concerned,” She adds sweetly. “She has a habit of…how do I put this? Taking things that do not belong to her.”The professor frowns. “If this is about academic misconnduct, I’m the wrong person to meet.”Celene raises a hand. “You are exactly the person I want to meet.”She straightens her bac
Elara’s POV,Lucien walks in to silence.Water drips from Celene’s sleeve onto the marble floor. Seraphina stands frozen, soaked, mascara carving black rivers down her cheeks. I’m still holding myself perfectly upright, and my pulse is steady like I didn’t just redraw the power map of this house.Lucien stops at the threshold. He takes it all in in one sweep, and his gaze lands on me first. Looking up like he knew I was there all along. He groans, and I smile. “Mi rey!” I call out, now already used to it. Mi Rey is almost mocking. An inside joke. He’s my king in name. He gives me a sweet smile, and I continue. “You didn’t tell me your mother was visiting.”I pass Celene, bumping into her shoulder, and go downstairs, never breaking eye contact with him.“A total slip on my part,” I say, as I go to hold his arm. It hit me that that has also become a habit for me. Holding his arm. “But I may have given her the wrong welcome gift.”I whisper, and he bends to do the same. “Cara, did you p
Elara’s POV, I’m on the upper balcony when they arrive.I hear the heels clicking on marble and smell the perfume drifting upward. Their voices are so loud. I take a sip of my champagne, and sneer. Seraphina.And Lucien’s mother. I know she was going to arrive that morning because I’d heard the servants talking. It irks me that Lucien didn’t deem it fit to inform me. Speaking of things irking me, Lucen and I haven’t spoken for more than a while. It irritates me almost as much as noticing even does. I can’t help it. The rooms are quieter when he’s not there. Recently, I’ve found myself looking in any room I enter for him.I lean against the balustrade, laptop forgotten beside me, and look down like the queen I am. The mistress of this mansion. Celene Kòrvac enters first.She doesn’t look up immediately; she clearly never does. Women like her expect the world to tilt its head for them, not the other way around. Seraphina follows, dressed in something yellow and expensive, already wea
Lucien’s POV, It’s been three days since Solis brought in a random lady and declared her Asher’s nanny. I hate to admit it, but Lucy was a perfect choice for Asher. Asher has never really had any problem with the elderly, but I know firsthand how difficult it is to impress Asher. For four days, Asher couldn’t look me in the eye. He ran in the opposite direction anytime he saw me. I remember I had to buy him a lot of gifts and promise him to take care of his mother before he could comfortably call me his father. Speaking of, Elara still hadn’t told her friends that I am Asher’s real father. Sometimes, I wonder what that woman is thinking. My train of thoughts is interrupted by my phone ringing. My mother. I inhale and swipe to pick up, but stop myself. I feel like I’m forgetting something today. My mother was, of course, furious when she heard I had a bride already. Especially a bride who had no important social standing, and she demanded to see Solis. I think it’s been over a wee
Elara’s POV,When they leave, Lucy speaks up from beside me. “Such a cute couple. I never thought I’d see the day.”I squawk, actually squawk, in surprise before clearing my throat. I face her amused self and smile.“What do you mean, you never thought you’d see the day?” I ask and lead her towards my room. “Oh, umm…” She hesitates. “Oh, why bother? You’re his wife already; surely you must know.”We take a turn. “Know what?”“Ah, it’s nothing.” She waves her hand. “Really.”I open the room door and walk in. “Lucy, you are going to be taking care of our son.” I pause and turn to face her. “I’ll appreciate real honesty.”“You’re speaking of honesty?” She scoffs, and I raise a brow. Interesting. She still has a backbone, thank goodness.“Whatever do you mean?” I feign innocence, shrugging, and she frowns, looking around.“I don’t know any Noemi.” She whispers. “Why did you tell your husband that?”I pour a cup of brandy for myself and take a sip. “Ah, would you have preferred me tellin
Elara’s POV, “Elara!” She stumbles before catching herself. “Is that you, Elara?”“Yes, Lucy.” I choke back a sob. “It’s me.”~ ~ A DAY BEFORE“Lucy…”My voice falters as I read further. Lucy comes back to me the way unfinished things always do. Inevitably.I had found her name buried in old staff records while tracing a different thread, one of many small cruelties the Virelli household dressed up as discipline. I remember everything.I remember her hands first. Always warm and steady. The way she slipped extra bread onto my plate without the others knowing. The way she spoke to me was like a person, not an inconvenience or a mistake. In a mansion built on power, Lucy had been gentle. I remember the night I was locked in the shack again for “burning Ayra’s uniform”. Lucy had lit a candle and snuck in to stay with me. I remember the stories she told me. How she made me laugh. How I cried on her shoulder. How I confided in her that I hated my life. I remember how I saw her as my mo
Elara’s POV,“Kiss him, Elara.”We both freeze, and Lucien recovers first. He clears his throat, takes my hand from my lap, and kisses it in front of them. “It’s all up to my wife here.” He smirks, looking right at me. “She doesn’t exactly like public displays of affection.”“No. Kiss her, or I ta
Elara’s POV, “I’m Seraphina, Lucien’s wife.” She beams and my brain falters. It’s too early for this, I think and manuever past her towards the stairs. Lucien’s wife? “You must be Elara.” She continues. “I heard about you from the kitchen maids. The gold-digger who’s trapped Lucien with a baby.”
Lucien’s POV,FIVE YEARS AGO- - - - -In the morning, I sit at the head of the table, the marriage contract laid out in front of me like a corpse dressed for burial. The Virelli family owes mine a mountain of debt, and my father had agreed with the patriarch. Their daughter belongs to us, and the V
Elara's POV, CRASH!! I throw another vase on the wall and continue pacing around. It's been two hours, thirty-six minutes, forty seconds since they'd locked me in here. I bit into my fingernails and looked out the window. Trying to break the glass was futile. Suddenly, I started to hyperventilate







