Chapter 4: A Game Without Rules

That moment I stepped back into the office, the familiar quietness of the floor wrapped around me like a suffocating fog. Yet the thought about how normal his wife sounded like still lingers in my head.

  Everything looked the same—perfectly arranged desks, polished marble floors, the distant clicking of keyboards—but something inside me had shifted.

  My thoughts were still trapped inside Lucien’s mansion.

  Inside that room.

  Inside that conversation with his wife.

  I felt unseen. Maybe I should have slammed the door harder to make him notice I'm still there standing.

  He is still sitting behind his desk, flipping through a set of documents as if nothing in the world could possibly disturb him. His posture was relaxed, one hand resting lazily against the arm of his chair.

  But his eyes lifted the moment I stepped inside.

  His Sharp. Observant.

  He looks at me like he's always calculating everything I say or do.

  “Did she say anything?” Lucien asked calmly.

  The next question came too quickly. As if he already knew something unexpected happened. Was it because of my reaction? Was it too obvious?

  I froze for a fraction of a second before forcing myself to walk closer to the desk.

  “She… asked a few questions,” I replied carefully. “Nothing important.”

  A lie.

  Not entirely, but enough to hide the truth.

  Lucien leaned back slightly in his chair, studying my face as if searching for something hidden beneath my calm expression.

  “What dress was she wearing?” he asked.

  The question caught me off guard. Really. The moment I left the mansion, my mind went black and empty. A different thought was in my head after all this time.

  “She was wearing a pale blue dress,” I answered after a moment. “With long sleeves.”

  Absolutely no idea if that what she was wearing. I'm completely in the state of mental block. The way his studying my expression makes it hard to keep a straight face when you already knew it wasn't true.

  Lucien hummed quietly, his fingers tapping once against the desk as if confirming something in his mind.

  Then, without another comment, he looked back at the documents.

  “Coffee.”

  I nodded quickly.

  “Yes, sir.”

  He gave the instructions and procedures as he always did—precise, specific, impossible to misunderstand.

  Except today…I swear I barely heard them.

  My mind kept replaying the wife’s words.

  “ Lucien didn’t marry me because he loved me. ”

  That only means, He had no choice.

  “And people in this house only stay when they serve a purpose.”

  I felt the weight of those words pressing against my chest as I prepared the coffee. Blankly-minded. All that was filling my head is the sound of the spoon hitting every part inside the cup.

  Who was telling the truth?

  Lucien?

  Or his wife?

  My thoughts tangled together until I barely noticed what I was doing. Only the sound of the spoon inside the cup “clink.....clink......clink....”

  When I returned to the office and placed the cup on his desk, Lucien lifted it slowly and took a small sip.

  The silence stretched.

  Then his lips curved.

  Not a smile.

  A smirk.

  Cold.

  Controlled.

  I immediately realized something was wrong.

  I was starting to panic, my mind came back to reality after a big mistake I know I made.

  My stomach dropped.

  I had made the wrong coffee.

  Before I could even apologize, Lucien suddenly stood from his chair.

  The movement was quick.

  Decisive.

  His hand reached forward and wrapped around my wrist, pulling me a step closer to him.

  My breath caught. It stopped.

  Lucien’s grip wasn’t painfully tight, but it was firm enough to keep me from moving.

  He leaned slightly closer. 

  Closer.

  I could feel the warmth of his presence surrounding me.

  Lucien lowered his head just enough that his nose brushed near the side of my neck making me feel confusingly different. I wasn't irritated, I'm annoyingly calm. My mind went empty, again as I felt a bit of a tension surrounding me.

  He inhaled slowly.

  Once.

  Then again.

  I froze completely. Not noting that his movement makes me close my eyes. Im confused.

  I admit, my perfume is something light and floral and it suddenly felt overwhelming in the small space between us.

  Lucien inhaled once more as if testing the scent until the sweetness filled his senses.

  Then he spoke.

  His voice was quiet.

  Dangerously calm.

  “The next time you get it wrong…” he whispered near my ear, his breath warm against my skin. Shivers running down my spine, and goosebumps fills my skin.

  “You’ll see what happens.”

  I felt a shiver run down my spine.

  Lucien released my wrist just as suddenly as he had grabbed it.

  Without another word, he walked toward the office door.

  His composure returned instantly, as if the moment had never happened.

  He reached the door… then stopped.

  Without turning around, he spoke again.

  “We’ll be attending a charity party tomorrow.”

  I blinked, still trying to steady my breathing.

  “Seven a.m. sharp,” he continued.

  Then he finally glanced over his shoulder.

  “You’ll come.”

  His eyes held a strange intensity.

  “Because my wife is going to show up.”

  The words hung heavily in the air.

  Lucien opened the door and left.

  The office fell into complete silence.

  I remained standing exactly where I was.

  My wrist still tingled where his hand had held it.

  My heart refused to slow down.

  Everything about that moment replayed in my mind the smirk, the warning, the way he had leaned close enough to breathe in my perfume.

  What kind of man was Lucien, really?

  And why did it feel like I had just stepped into a game where I didn’t know the rules?

  After a moment, I finally moved.

  I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, my fingers slightly unsteady.

  I opened the alarm app and quickly set a reminder.

  6:00 a.m.

  I stared at the screen for a second before locking it.

  Because tomorrow…

  I would see Lucien’s wife again.

  And somehow, I had the feeling that the charity party would reveal far more than anyone was prepared for.