Lucien said, “How dare you?”
Calista’s eyes were red with unshed tears as she stared at Lucien.
Her slender fingers clung desperately to his arm, as if it were the only thing keeping her from falling apart.
Lucien looked down at her–at the way she struggled to breathe. An ache settled in his chest,
heavy and tight, like a fist pressing hard against his lungs.
“I’m going to give you one last chance. Who is the man?”
Lucien wasn’t the kind of man who backed down. But this time, he had. And all he wanted now
was a straight answer.
Calista’s lips trembled, but her voice stayed calm–almost chillingly so. “Lucien, what exactly are you holding on to? You never loved me–not from the start. So why keep up this act? Why pretend you’re some heartbroken man who’s been wronged?
“To anyone watching, it might look like I’ve betrayed you. But the truth is, I was never even in your
heart to begin with. So tell me, why does it matter who I’m with now?”
The more even her voice was, the more emotionless she became, and the darker Lucien’s face
turned.
“If you really don’t care, then why are you still here?” His face was dark with tension, and even his voice carried a tight, barely restrained edge.
“You think I want to be here?” she said with a cold, bitter smile.
The smile didn’t reach her eyes. It only deepened the sharp ache in Lucien’s chest.
She thought, “If you hadn’t threatened me with Anthony… If you hadn’t concerned me… I would’ve never stayed in this house to suffer through all of this.”
Their eyes locked. Lucien’s jaw clenched before he abruptly let go of her. He stepped back, putting some distance between them.
The suffocating tension from moments ago had vanished altogether. Lucien had returned to that cold, detached version of himself, the one she knew all too well.
“You’re not going to be able to contain this scandal,” he finally said.
When Lucien looked up again, it was like he had already pulled himself back together.
His eyes, dark and unreadable, carried a sharp chill, cold enough to keep the whole world at arm’s length.
“Even if it doesn’t, it won’t hurt you or the Fenwick family. If anything burns down, it’ll be my name, not yours. Your company won’t take the hit. You don’t need to worry,” Calista replied, panting, trying to catch her breath between each sentence.
And yet, despite everything, there was a cold edge buried in Calista’s tone.
It didn’t just sting Lucien. It cut deep, like she had already given up on feeling anything at all.
“I know you don’t give a damn about my family. But what about the Cannons? You think the people you’ve spent your whole life protecting can handle the fallout?”
Lucien looked back over his shoulder. The soft glow of the porch lights cast shadows on his
features, lending him a careless elegance. There was a dangerous edge to his smile, the kind that
didn’t quite reach his eyes.
The tension between them thickened, the air heating with the unspoken things hanging between
them.
Calista looked away first, refusing to meet the searing intensity in his eyes.
She took a deep breath and said, “Besides your relative, no one else knows what’s between us. As long as they stay quiet, no one will find out.
“And even if they do, you know how to walk away clean. Just do what you always do, Lucien. You
“Come here,” he ordered coldly, his gaze darkening. “Think about Anthony.”
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