CHAPTER 42 – THE god OF THE CITY
R I N A
I slammed the door of my apartment so hard the frame rattled.
The twins froze in the living room where they had been building a tower with their blocks. Their little heads turned toward me, identical dark curls falling into identical wide eyes his eyes.
God, even now I could barely look at them without seeing him.
"Mommy?" Lila whispered.
I forced a smile onto my face, even though my chest felt like it was going to explode. "It's okay, baby. Mommy just… had a rough day, mummy is just tired."
Liora appeared from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. "Rough day?" she asked, arching a brow as she took in my face. "Or did something happen?"
I ignored her, crossing the room to kneel by the twins.
"Go wash your hands, darlings," I said softly. "Dinner will be ready soon."
They scampered off, whispering to each other, their voices bright with the kind of innocence I no longer possessed.
When I straightened, Liora was still standing there, her arms crossed.
"You're pale," she said flatly. "And you look like you just murdered someone."
"Maybe I should have," I muttered, pushing past her into the kitchen.
"Oh no," she said, following me. "No, no, no. You don't get to say something like that and walk away. Talk."
I yanked open the fridge just to have something to do with my hands.
"I saw him," I said finally, my voice flat.
There was a beat of silence.
"Him?" Liora repeated slowly.
I nodded once, staring blindly at the shelves in the fridge. "At the shop today. He came."
"What did he say?"
I slammed the fridge shut, whirling to face her. "It doesn't matter what he said. I slapped him."
Liora's jaw dropped. "You what?"
"I slapped him!" I shouted, the words tearing out of me like they had been clawing at my throat all afternoon. "Right there in my shop. In front of Silas. In front of everyone. I told him to stay away from me and the kids."
Liora stared at me for a long moment, and then something in her expression shifted.
"Oh my God," she whispered, her hand flying to her mouth.
"What?" I demanded.
"You don't know who he is," she said slowly, almost like she couldn't believe it.
"I know exactly who he is," I snapped. "He's the man who ruined my life. The man who"
"Stop."
Her voice cracked like a whip through the air, sharp enough to make me flinch.
"Do you even hear yourself?" she asked, her eyes flashing. "You think a man like Lucian Dreven would need to do something like that?"
The name hit me like a slap of its own.
I blinked at her. "Who?"
Her mouth fell open. "Oh my God. You really don't know."
I shook my head, my heart suddenly thudding hard against my ribs. "Liora, what are you talking about?"
She grabbed my shoulders, her grip firm.
"Lucian Dreven," she said, her voice low and intense. "The Lucian Dreven. He's not just some guy, Rina. He's the CEO of Lysander Enterprise. He practically owns this city. People call him the God of Arden for a reason."
I stared at her, my stomach flipping.
"You think your charming ex husband,and stepfamily could afford to hire someone like that to hurt you?" she demanded. "Do you have any idea what his time is worth? What his name is worth?"
I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.
"They wouldn't even get past his secretary," Liora went on, her words cutting and relentless. "He doesn't do dirty work for anyone. If he was there that night, it wasn't because they paid him. You need to stop holding on to this idea that the whole world conspired against you. You've been angry for so long you can't see straight anymore."
Tears stung my eyes, but I blinked them back, furious that she was making me feel like the villain in my own story.
"You weren't there, Liora," I said, my voice trembling. "You didn't wake up in that hotel room, you didn't…"
I broke off, swallowing hard.
She softened then, just a little, but her tone stayed firm.
"No, I wasn't there," she admitted. "But I've seen the way he looks at you. And those kids…"
She shook her head slowly.
"You think this is about you being angry? This is about two children who deserve to know the truth,who deserves to know their father, about where they came from. About a man who's been walking around for five years like a ghost because he didn't even know they existed."
I dropped into the nearest chair, burying my face in my hands.
Liora crouched in front of me, her voice gentler now.
"Rina, you don't have to forgive him right now. You don't even have to like him.You don't even need to have anything to do with him if you Don't,But you need to face the fact that he's not some faceless monster. He's their father. The father of your adorable kids,And whether you want to admit it or not, he's not going anywhere."
Her words hung in the air like smoke, heavy and choking.
For the first time in years, I didn't know what to say.
Because somewhere deep down, I knew she was right.
And that terrified me more than anything.
That night, after the twins were asleep, I stood at the window and stared out at the glittering lights of Arden.
Lucian Dreven.
The name tasted strange on my tongue.
The God of the City.
The man I had slapped the man who had looked at me with that mix of anger and pain that had cut through me like a knife.
I hated him.
I hated him so much.
And yet, for the first time in five years, I wasn't sure if I hated him for the right reasons.