Tamed By Fear

Chapter 11: Tamed By Fear

Lucian stood in the east wing’s study, back straight, hands clasped behind him, as the sound of heavy boots echoed from the hallway. He knew it was only a matter of time before she came back with questions.

He welcomed them. Questions meant she still cared.

But before he faced Serena, his mind wandered back sixteen days — the day he signed her life away and folded it into his.

Sixteen Days Ago

Lucian had driven himself. No convoy. No driver. Just him in his sleek black Aston Martin, the leather interior silent and cool. He parked across from the run-down apartment building and took a long look.

The home of the girl who sold herself to save her family.

Mr. Keller was sitting on the front stoop, chewing something bitter and looking like he hadn’t slept.

Lucian approached him slowly.

“You’re Mr. Keller?”

The man squinted up. “You’re not one of those damn court officials, are you?”

Lucian ignored the hostility. “I’m here for Serena Vale’s family. I need the lease dissolved. You’ll be compensated generously.”

Mr. Keller stood up. “Hold on. Who the hell are you?”

Lucian pulled out the file folder from his inner jacket pocket and passed it over. Inside was a bank draft, a signed legal release, and a nondisclosure agreement.

“I’m the man who’s going to make your life easier. All you need to do is walk back inside, let my team handle the moving, and forget everything you’ve seen.”

Keller flipped through the documents, eyes widening when he saw the sum.

“You’re—Lucian Devlin?” he muttered. “The Lucian Devlin?”

Lucian said nothing.

Keller nodded slowly, licking his lips. “Right. You got it. I’ll even make sure her mom knows. But…”

Lucian arched his brow.

“She's sick, the mom, Hospitalized. You want her moved too, I figure?”

Lucian’s jaw tightened. “Give me the hospital name.”

Later That Afternoon

He walked into the hospital like a shadow. His men were already stationed outside. He hated public places. Too many eyes. Too many variables. But for this, he had to come personally.

Inside the administrator’s office, a trembling woman sat behind a desk.

“I don’t think we can allow a transfer without family consent, sir,” she stammered after he explained.

Lucian leaned in, voice cold and sharp as glass. “You will. Because if you don’t, the health board will get a full audit of this facility within 24 hours. I promise, they’ll find things you never knew you buried.”

The woman swallowed. “We’ll make the call.”

“It won’t be necessary,” Lucian said, placing a signed court directive on her desk.

The name at the bottom was real. The seal was real. Everything was airtight.

“I’ve already made the arrangements for her new care. Private. Safer. Cleaner.”

He looked through the glass wall where Ebele Vale lay unconscious, hooked up to her IV. Pale. Fragile.

Just like Serena had described.

He gave a small nod to one of his men.

In less than three hours, she was transferred.

Back to Present Day

Lucian closed the file on his desk and exhaled.

He had moved mountains for that girl. And now she would come roaring in, demanding to know why.

He turned toward the door just as it opened.

Serena stormed in, her face flushed, hair wind-blown, fists clenched at her sides.

“You moved them.”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t tell me.”

“No.”

“Why?”

Lucian walked slowly to the armchair and sat. Calm. Controlled. His eyes never left hers.

“Because I couldn’t leave them where they were. And because I needed leverage.”

She flinched.

“Leverage?” she whispered.

Lucian’s voice dropped, flat and cold. “In case you decided to run. I needed to make sure you wouldn’t.”

The silence that followed was heavy. Her lips parted, but no sound came out. Her breath hitched. Then, the tears came — quiet, hot, and uncontrollable.

“You used them. My family,” she choked out.

“I secured them,” he replied emotionlessly. “They were your weakness. I turned them into insurance.”

Serena stepped back like she’d been struck. “You're a monster.”

He didn’t flinch.

Her sobs broke through the air. Shoulders shaking. A sound of pure betrayal.

And still, Lucian stood there.

Watching.

Something inside him cracked at the sight of her breaking. But he couldn’t let it show. He couldn’t give her that power.

She dropped to her knees, gasping for air like the world had collapsed beneath her.

But Lucian… he turned his back.

And walked out of the room.

That did it.

That final act of indifference broke something in her.

A small, stubborn hope she didn’t know she still carried — the whisper that maybe Lucian wasn’t all bad, that maybe beneath the cruelty was a man worth understanding — vanished.

Her hands curled into fists as the sobs died in her throat.

He didn’t walk away from her because he didn’t care. He walked away because he did — and that made it worse.

She wasn’t just a pawn.

She was the price.

And her resolve solidified in that moment: she would destroy him.

Even if her heart got caught in the fire.