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CHAPTER FOUR: The Art of Unmaking

Author: Echoes of Gold
last update Last Updated: 2025-11-19 23:16:30

Lucien Saint-Croix didn’t believe in chaos.

Every empire he had built, every secret he’d buried, every soul he’d bought - it was all done with exquisite precision. His world was a symphony of control, and he was its conductor.

Which made her all the more dangerous.

Evelyn. No.

Kali.

He rolled the name across his tongue as he poured a glass of whiskey, standing alone in the study, the morning light bleeding pale through the windows.

Kali.

It suited her better. Softer in some ways, but sharper, too. Like beauty carved from something already burned. A phoenix without wings. A girl too pure to survive the world he lived in - and exactly the kind of delicate thing he wanted to crush beneath his thumb.

He didn’t want her because she was beautiful.

He wanted her because everyone else did.

Because when she walked into the auction room, trembling in blue silk, with that untouched look in her eyes, the world had stilled. Grown men forgot how to breathe. The arms dealer had salivated. The media
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  • THE BIDDING ROOM   CHAPTER SIXTEEN

    He stood in the interrogation room beneath the east wing — a space designed for truth, not comfort. The walls were soundproofed stone. The table was bare. The chair opposite him was already occupied.The tech engineer was sweating.“You understand why you’re here,” Lucien said calmly.The man nodded too fast.“You built the security grid.”“Yes, sir.”“You reviewed the blind spots.”“Yes.”Lucien leaned back slightly. “Then explain how a man walked through my estate, reached my inner wing, and left without triggering a full alarm.”“I…I don’t know…”Lucien raised a finger.The room went still.“I don’t accept ignorance,” he said. “Only intent or incompetence.”The man’s breathing broke.“I swear…no one accessed the system remotely. The breach came from inside the pattern itself.”Lucien’s eyes narrowed. “Meaning?”“Meaning whoever planned this knew your routines. Not the layout, you.”Silence thickened.Lucien rose slowly.“Remove him,” he said to Damien. “He lives. For now.”The tech

  • THE BIDDING ROOM   CHAPTER FIFTEEN

    Lucien moved like a storm that had grown legs.Damien followed at a distance — smart enough not to speak, smarter not to breathe too loudly. Every guard they passed flattened against the wall, terrified of being noticed in the wrong way. The mansion felt different now, tense, cold, and like unseen eyes were watching every movement. This was because the devil was hunting. Anytime Lucien hunted, someone always bled.“Four seconds,” he repeated, voice deceptively quiet. “That’s all the alarm recorded?”“Yes, sir.”“Find the technician responsible for that blind spot.”Damien swallowed. “And do what with him?”Lucien’s eyes glinted. “Hold the funeral tomorrow.”Damien said nothing.They reached the west corridor — the wing nearest Kali’s new room. The place still wore the ghost of her scent. Lucien inhaled once, involuntarily.He hated himself for it, but what he hated more was the truth: Matteo had been in this wing tonight. He had been near her, breathing her air and close enough to tou

  • THE BIDDING ROOM   CHAPTER FOURTEEN

    Lucien didn’t sleep.He dismissed the house, silenced the corridors, and stood by the tall windows of his private wing like a carved statue—hands behind his back, jaw clenched so tight the muscle throbbed. The lights of the estate threw sharp patterns on the marble, slicing across him in cold, restless stripes.He replayed every second of the envoy’s intrusion.The way Matteo had looked at her.The way she had looked back.And the memory burned more than he cared to admit.Kali.He hated how easily the new name rolled in his mind.Hated how naturally it fit her when he spoke it aloud.He hated even more that someone else—another man—had spoken it first.He checked his watch. 2:11 a.m.He should leave her alone.He didn’t.Lucien moved through the dark halls with silent steps, passing guards who straightened instantly and vanished from sight. He stopped in front of her door—the place he kept finding himself drawn to in the dead hours of the night.And because he despised weakness, he f

  • THE BIDDING ROOM   CHAPTER THIRTEEN

    Evelyn woke with her heart pounding. Not from a nightmare…not exactly. But from a whisper she could’ve sworn was real. “Nana…” A voice she had buried with her childhood. A voice she had mourned until the grief swallowed whole pieces of her. Her eyes opened to the soft spill of moonlight, her breath catching in her throat. The room was empty. Still, she pushed herself upright slowly, scanning the shadows as if memory itself might step forward and become a man. Impossible. It was impossible. He was dead. He had to be. Her fingers trembled as she touched her throat—cold, damp with sweat. I must have been dreaming, it can’t be real. I’m losing my mind. That’s all. The mansion was silent around her, the kind of silence that didn’t feel restful— it felt watched. Then she heard it. A soft footfall outside her door. Measured, slow and heavy. Lucien. She knew it instantly. He had a way of moving that made her nerve endings stand on edge even through walls. He paused directly outside

  • THE BIDDING ROOM   CHAPTER THIRTEEN

    Evelyn woke with her heart pounding. Not from a nightmare…not exactly. But from a whisper she could’ve sworn was real. “Nana…” A voice she had buried with her childhood. A voice she had mourned until the grief swallowed whole pieces of her. Her eyes opened to the soft spill of moonlight, her breath catching in her throat. The room was empty. Still, she pushed herself upright slowly, scanning the shadows as if memory itself might step forward and become a man. Impossible. It was impossible. He was dead. He had to be. Her fingers trembled as she touched her throat—cold, damp with sweat. I must have been dreaming, it can’t be real. I’m losing my mind. That’s all. The mansion was silent around her, the kind of silence that didn’t feel restful— it felt watched. Then she heard it. A soft footfall outside her door. Measured, slow and heavy. Lucien. She knew it instantly. He had a way of moving that made her nerve endings stand on edge even through walls. He paused directly outside

  • THE BIDDING ROOM   CHAPTER TWELVE:

    She woke to warmth. Softness and shadows. Kali blinked, the haze slowly lifting. This wasn’t her room. This wasn’t the wing he had confined her to. This was a darker space, massive and masculine. A room that hummed with authority. Her eyes swept the room and it fell on the huge portrait. Lucien. It registered slowly in her head. Lucien’s bedroom.Her heart skipped a bit. The portrait was beautiful, she couldn’t see it clearly because it was a bit far from the bedside but she knew he looked really handsome in it. It looked like he had just stepped out of a shower, the visible shape of water drops falling on his face from his wet hair. The look in his eyes that terrified her but made her stomach turn at the same time. She bit her lower lip, it should be a crime to look that good and be cruel at the same time. She tore her gaze from it.The sheets under her were black silk, cool and expensive. A low fire crackled in the hearth across the room. Soft lamplight pooled golden across the wa

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