บททั้งหมดของ Cinderella and Her Three Knights: บทที่ 51 - บทที่ 60

Ella’s POVI didn’t realize how hard my heart was pounding until Julian’s hands were still on my arms.The world felt paused for half a second.One moment I was falling.The next, I was held.Julian had gotten to me just in time, his grip firm, steady, his body blocking mine from hitting the floor. My breath came out in a shaky rush, and for a split second, all I could see was his face—too close, too concerned, too familiar in a way that made my chest tighten.“You okay?” he asked, his voice low, protective.I nodded quickly. “Yeah. I—yeah. I’m fine.”But I wasn’t fine.Not really.Because right behind him, I saw Lucian.He had moved too. I could tell. He had been on his way toward me, just a step too late. His hands were still half-raised, like he’d been ready to catch me too.For a brief, dangerous moment, the three of us were locked in something unspoken.Julian holding me.Lucian watching.And me standing right in the middle of it.Lucian’s jaw tightened.He turned away first.“Ge

Ella’s POVThe party was louder than I expected.Not club loud.Not reckless loud.But the kind of loud that comes from people who have been holding themselves together for too long and suddenly feel like they’re allowed to breathe.“Ella, over here!”“Did you see the vouchers they gave us?”“I swear, I’m going to Dubai.”“No, Maldives!”I laughed as one of my teammates grabbed my arm.“Relax,” I said. “We haven’t even checked in properly.”She grinned. “Let me enjoy this moment before reality remembers me.”I scanned the room.Lucian was across the hall, surrounded by managers and senior staff.One of them said, loud enough for me to hear, “I didn’t think you had this in you, Lucian.”Lucian smiled, polite but controlled. “Neither did most people.”Another man laughed. “Well, you proved them wrong.”Lucian nodded. “My team did.”I caught his eyes.Just for a second.Something passed between us.Not pride.Not celebration.Something heavier.Something unfinished.Julian walked up to L

Ella’s POVThe silence after felt louder than the kiss itself.Lucian’s forehead rested against mine. His hand was still at my waist, but neither of us moved further.The air between us wasn’t heated anymore.It was aware.“That…” he said quietly, breath uneven but controlled, “…was not nothing.”I swallowed.“No,” I agreed.His thumb brushed my wrist absently, like he was grounding himself. Like he needed to make sure I was still real.“Say it,” I whispered.“Say what?”“What this is.”His jaw tightened slightly.“I don’t know yet.”The honesty hurt more than if he had lied.I pulled back just enough to see his face clearly.“What are we doing, Lucian?”He held my gaze. Not evasive. Not defensive. Just steady.“I’ve never brought anyone here.”My heartbeat skipped.“What does that mean?”“It means this wasn’t an accident.”The room felt smaller suddenly.“What about Julian?” I asked.His eyes darkened — not with anger, but conflict.“He and I don’t define each other’s choices.”“That

Ella’s POV“You should be careful who you trust.”The voice dissolved into static.For a moment I stood in the corridor as though the walls themselves had spoken.Ten steps to Lucian’s door.Twelve to Julian’s.I could have knocked on either.Instead, I remained suspended between them, my pulse loud in my ears.If I chose a door, I would be choosing a side.And I was not ready to admit which one my heart had already chosen.I began to walk.Not toward either of them — just away. Away from the weight of the call, away from the sense that something unseen had shifted beneath my feet.“Miss Ella.”The voice did not startle me.It settled around me.I turned.Renee Collins stood near the long arched window at the end of the hall. She was always composed, always immaculate, like a portrait hung too long in a house that refuses to crumble. Her silver-streaked hair was gathered at the nape of her neck. Her hands were folded loosely.She looked as though she had been there long before I arriv

Ella’s POVThe city sped by in a blur of distorted neon and trailing brake lights. Lucian didn’t take one of his Blackwood fleet; he drove himself in a matte-black beast of a car that growled with a low, predatory hum. Inside the cabin, the air was different—it tasted of expensive leather, cold rain, and the lingering electricity of the story he had just told me.By the time we pulled into the underground garage of a glass-and-steel monolith near the waterfront, the silence between us had reached a breaking point. It wasn't an awkward silence. It was a vacuum, waiting to be filled by the storm that had been brewing since he first looked at me across that crowded restaurant."What is this place," I whispered as the engine cut out, the sudden quiet ringing in my ears."Hideout number two," Lucian said, his hands still gripping the steering wheel. His knuckles were white. "The mansion is where I go to pretend I’m a Blackwood. This..." He turned to look at me, his eyes dark and fractured.