CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE – LUCIAN, charity gala
The ballroom glittered under a thousand chandeliers, every corner awash in gold light. Arden City's elite floated through the space like it was their private playground crystal flutes of champagne in hand, laughter too loud, smiles too polished.
I stood near the entrance for a moment, taking it all in.
"Try to look approachable," Silas murmured, handing me a drink. "This is a charity gala, not an execution."
I arched a brow at him. "You're assuming there's a difference."
He smirked. "If anyone asks, I tried."
I moved through the crowd with practiced ease, shaking hands, accepting compliments about Lysander Enterprises' latest projects.
"Mr. Lucian, your clean energy initiative is remarkable."
"Congratulations on the overseas expansion. The city is proud to have you."
"Lucian, you look as stunning as ever who designed your suit?"
I answered politely, my face neutral, my tone smooth.
This was the life I had built.
And I was good at it.
But beneath the tailored suit, beneath the headlines that called me "Arden's Coldest Bachelor," I felt the same gnawing emptiness that had followed me for years.
A woman brushed past me, her perfume sweet and cloying. She paused, offering me a dazzling smile.
"Lucian Dreven," she purred, leaning in. "Still breaking hearts, I see."
I recognized her Isabella, a socialite I had been photographed with once, years ago.
"Not intentionally," I replied smoothly, stepping just slightly out of reach.
Her lips curved. "Still a mystery, then. Arden's most eligible man with no time for love?"
I didn't answer.
Silas appeared at my side like clockwork, intercepting. "Excuse us. Duty calls."
I let him steer me away.
"You're welcome," Silas said under his breath, smirk firmly in place.
"She wasn't a problem," I said, but my tone was flat.
"She was about to be," he replied. "And you weren't exactly hiding your boredom."
He wasn't wrong.
These events were supposed to be glamorous, exciting. For me, they were just another room to survive.
Later, I stood alone on the balcony overlooking the city.
The noise from the ballroom was muted, distant.
Arden glittered below me my city, my empire, everything I had worked for.
And yet, I felt like a ghost looking down on someone else's life.
Silas joined me, silent for a moment. Then he said, quietly, "It's been more than five years, Lucian."
"I know."
"You've turned Lysander Enterprises into the most powerful company in Arden. You've built everything you swore you would. But when's the last time you actually felt something?"
I stared at the skyline, jaw tight.
"I feel enough."
"Do you?"
His words stayed with me long after the gala ended, long after I returned to the quiet expanse of my penthouse.
I loosened my tie and stood by the window, watching the city that never seemed to sleep, it never sleeps.
I had wealth, power, influence.
And none of it filled the hollow place inside me.
The part that kept whispering that there was something someone still missing.