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The insulated flask swung lightly in Lucian's hand as he made his way back across the beach.The smile from earlier had faded, but not completely.Every now and then, he found himself remembering the teenager's horrified face after realizing she had performed mouth-to-mouth on a perfectly healthy man.The memory was enough to make the corner of his mouth twitch. She really was ridiculous."Well, well, well."Lucian's expression immediately flattened.Of course. Fucking Adrian.The boy had somehow appeared beside him without warning."What are you carrying?" Adrian asked, glancing at the flask. "Enough food to feed an army?"Lucian kept walking, completely ignoring him.Adrian frowned.No response or even a glance. The same treatment has been given to him for days.Normally, Lucian would have answered. Maybe with sarcasm or annoyance.But the wounds left behind by Angela's betrayal were still fresh. Though he was still in the dark about his sister's ultimate betrayal. For Lucian, simp
Lucian continued walking toward the section of the beach where his family had settled for the day, his footsteps steady against the warm sand. The farther he walked, the more ridiculous the entire situation seemed.A little girl had mistaken him for a corpse.Performed CPR on him.Accidentally kissed him.Declared him her prince charming.Then nearly starved herself without complaining.The more he thought about it, the more absurd it became.And yet...A small smile remained on his face.For the first time in what felt like forever, his thoughts weren't consumed by betrayal, heartbreak, or disappointment. Instead, they were occupied by a dramatic little girl whose stomach growled louder than a thunderstorm.By the time Lucian reached his family's setup near the resort, the smile was still there.And that alone was enough to shock everyone.Seraphina was the first to notice.She had been sitting beneath a large umbrella, quietly reading a book while keeping an eye on the younger chil
Lucian's laughter gradually died down, though an occasional chuckle still escaped him whenever he remembered the look on the girl's face moments ago.The poor child looked as though she wanted the ocean to swallow her whole.Even now, she kept stealing embarrassed glances at him before immediately looking away whenever their eyes met.For some reason, Lucian found it amusing... Very amusing. Far more amusing than he probably should.Eventually, after the silence stretched between them for several moments, Lucian tilted his head slightly and looked at her."So..." he began. "Do lifesavers usually kiss the people they're trying to rescue?"The girl's face immediately turned red again. "Please don't remind me."Lucian laughed. "No promises.""You're mean." She pouted."I'm the victim here," Lucian said with a chuckle. The girl groaned and buried her face in her hands.Lucian found himself smiling again.Strange...Only an hour ago, he had wanted nothing to do with people.Now he was sit
Meanwhile, Lucian kept walking. He walked far beyond the crowded sections of the resort, far beyond the laughter of tourists and the noise of families enjoying their vacations. With every step, the sounds behind him grew fainter until they became nothing more than distant echoes carried away by the wind. The farther he moved from everyone else, the easier it became to breathe. There were no sympathetic looks following him around, no awkward conversations filled with forced concern, and no people constantly wondering how he was doing. Most importantly, there was no Angela. Just silence. Beautiful, uninterrupted silence. Eventually, the shoreline began to change. The colorful umbrellas disappeared, the clusters of tourists vanished, and even the footprints in the sand became scarce. Ahead stretched a secluded section of coast that looked almost untouched by human presence. It was exactly what he needed. Lucian released a long breath and allowed his gaze to drift across th
Angela's heart hammered so violently against her ribs that she was certain everyone on the beach could hear it. The distance between her and Lucian wasn't far at all. A minute. Maybe less. Yet every step felt like crossing an entire ocean. The sand shifted beneath her feet as she walked, forcing her to slow down, and somehow that only made everything worse. It gave her too much time to think. For the first time in her life, Angela understood what true regret felt like. Not guilt or embarrassment. Not the temporary remorse people felt after making bad choices. This was different. This was the kind of regret that settled deep inside your chest and stayed there. The kind that followed every breath. The kind that made you wish you could turn back time even when you knew it was impossible. The ocean breeze lifted strands of her hair as she continued walking, her trembling fingers curling into fists at her sides. "Please," she whispered to herself. She wasn't even sure what s
While the Hale family celebrated what felt like a hard-earned victory, the Blackwoods found themselves fighting a battle that no amount of sunshine or good intentions could easily solve. Convincing Lucian to leave his isolation had been difficult enough, but convincing Angela proved nearly impossible. The moment she heard everyone was heading to the beach, she refused without hesitation. She looked devastated, nothing like the bright, expressive daughter her parents knew. When they gently encouraged her to come along, Angela could only laugh bitterly and ask what exactly she was supposed to do there. Watch Lucian ignore her? Watch him walk away every time she got close? Be reminded of the damage she had caused every second she remained near him? The moment her mother mentioned the beach again, Angela's response came instantly. "No!" The answer was so immediate, so firm, that nobody even had the chance to finish the invitation. She sat curled up on the edge of her bed, her k
After Elara said everything, after she calmly, ominously, and almost theatrically dropped her “vision” about George divorcing Grace, the entire room had gone so quiet that a pin drop could have been heard. Grace stood frozen for a long second. Her lips trembled and her fingers twitched. Her prid
The next morning... The sunlight that filtered through the tall windows of the Hale estate felt wrong. It was too bright for a house that had barely slept, too warm for a family that had spent the entire night sitting outside Nathan's bedroom, waiting to hear whether he would wake up again withou
They were all enjoying the dinner until everything stopped. There was no crash of shattered glass, no scream slicing through the air, no theatrical gasp or collapsing body to draw immediate alarm. There was only a fracture. A disruption in rhythm. Elara moved to pick another food, but froze an
Lucian and Elara got into his car. The outside world disappeared in that moment for Elara. The café... The whispers... The stares... Adrian’s unsettling gaze... Aaron’s infuriating taunt... All of it vanished behind closed doors and tinted glass, leaving only the two of them, and ever







