جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

Lucian POVThe restaurant went quiet the moment I stepped inside.Not completely quiet, but the kind of quietness that spreads when attention shifts without permission. The whole conversations in there seemed to be lowered while the cutleries slowed and a few heads turned but none of that mattered.The only thing that mattered was Sienna.She sat across from a man that looked quite familiar, someone I felt certain I had seen before but couldn’t immediately place. That wasn’t even the issue right now. The issue was that she was sitting across from him, laughing like I didn’t exist in her world already.Like the last two weeks meant nothing.My jaw tightened as I walked toward their table, every step measured but fueled by something dangerously close to anger.Her smile faded the second she noticed me approaching.“Lucian…” she started, surprise flashing across her face.The man beside her straightened, confusion turning quickly into guarded awareness. “Everything okay?”I ignored him c

Lucian POVFive days had passed and I hadn’t heard from her.It would be a lie to say I hadn’t picked up my phone a thousand times just to call or text her, but I just couldn’t bring myself to.Every time my thumb hovered over her name, something sharp and stubborn stopped me. Probably it was pride, maybe anger, definitely. Or the memory of the last time I saw her looking at another man like the world around them didn’t exist.The mansion felt wrong without her. It was too quiet.Her office remained untouched across the glass corridor from mine. The orchid I’d placed there days ago was still alive, annoyingly vibrant, like it expected her to walk back in at any moment but she didn’t.I told myself I was angry.That I was angry she walked away without explanation. Angry that she made me look like a fool in public. Angry that she made me show a side of me I had worked extremely hard to hide. Angry that she sat in a restaurant laughing with another man while the entire city watched.It w

Lucian POVThe sunlight reached me before I was fully awake.It slipped through the thin curtains and slowly filled the room with warmth which was hard to ignore.I tossed and turned on the bed, trying to stay asleep, but the light kept pulling me toward consciousness.As I moved, a sharp pain hit my head, causing me to let out a groan.The mattress beneath me felt unfamiliar, softer than the one I was used to, and the air smelled different too, like clean laundry mixed with a faint floral scent.I tossed and turned again, trying to understand where I was, and opened my eyes halfway. The pain in my head grew worse, forcing me to shut them again almost immediately.My head throbbed badly, like someone had hit it with a hammer.I lay there for a moment, breathing slowly, trying to piece together anything from the night before. The last clear memory I had was standing in my downing a glass of liquor and the sense that the mansion felt unbearable without her.Everything after that was bla

Lucian POV“I do not care about those rules!”The words had ripped out of me like they had been clawing at my throat for weeks.I couldn’t take them back, not anymore, not as though I wanted to.The second Sienna walked through that door in nothing but that long, thin sleep shirt that barely skimmed the tops of her thighs, hair still damp from the shower and curling at the ends, every ounce of restraint I had scraped together seems to evaporate.She looked soft, freshly bathed, smelling faintly of vanilla, and the sight of her standing there, uncertain but brave enough to knock, undid me completely.I had tried to fight it. God, I tried.I told myself we could talk, keep it civil, stick to the lines we had drawn in black ink on legal papers but the moment her eyes met mine across the room, wide and searching, the battle inside me was already lost.The part of me that wanted to protect her, possess her, worship every inch of her won in a heartbeat.Now she was under me on the bed with

Lucian POVThe morning came quietly, but my mind was already awake long before the sun rose.I stood by the window with my hands resting in my pockets while I focused on keeping my thoughts steady.Last night stayed in my head no matter how much I tried to push it away.I had left the bedroom early before Sienna even woke up because I did not want questions I was not ready to answer.A knock sounded on the study door, pulling me out of my thoughts.“Come in,” I said while turning back toward my desk.The door opened and Sienna walked in slowly.She looked calm and properly dressed for the day, but I noticed the tension in her shoulders immediately. Her hands were held together tightly as if she was nervous.“Good morning,” she said.“Morning,” I replied, taking my seat and opening a file in front of me.Then, a long silence filled the room.I could feel her watching me, waiting for something more, but I kept my attention on the papers. I knew what she wanted to talk about, and I was n