Ariella did not sleep.
Even in Lucien Blackwood's penthouse—surrounded by silence, security, and glass walls that overlooked the city like a throne—her mind refused to rest.
She sat on the edge of the bed, wrapped in a borrowed robe, staring at the faint reflection of herself in the window.
Daniel was finished.
That truth should have brought relief.
Instead, it left behind something far more unsettling.
Lucien.
In her past life, Lucien Blackwood had been a wall—untouchable, indifferent, immovable. A man who watched suffering like weather: unavoidable, impersonal.
Tonight, that same man had dismantled her enemy in a matter of hours.
For her.
A soft knock sounded.
She turned.
Lucien stepped into the room, sleeves rolled up, jacket discarded. The sharp edge he wore in public had dulled slightly, replaced by something quieter… heavier.
"You should rest," he said.
She nodded but didn't move.
"I know," she replied. "But my body hasn't caught up with reality yet."
Lucien leaned against the wall, studying her. "You're safe."
The word landed differently than he expected.
Safe.
Ariella let out a slow breath. "That's the problem."
His brow furrowed. "Explain."
"In my last life," she said softly, "I thought I was safe too. Right until the moment I wasn't."
Lucien didn't interrupt.
So she continued.
"I trusted the wrong man. I ignored warning signs because love felt like protection." Her fingers clenched in the fabric of the robe. "I won't make that mistake again."
Lucien's gaze sharpened—not offended, not angry.
Understanding.
"You think I'm another version of him," he said calmly.
"No," Ariella replied immediately. "That's what scares me."
Silence stretched between them.
Lucien crossed the room slowly, stopping a few steps away. "I am not gentle," he said. "I don't pretend to be. I control, I calculate, and I eliminate threats."
"I know."
"And I don't save people unless there's a reason."
Her eyes lifted to meet his. "What's your reason with me?"
Lucien paused.
That hesitation—barely a second long—made her heart stutter.
"Because you don't break," he said finally. "Even when you're bleeding."
Her chest tightened.
"That's not enough to build a future on," she whispered.
Lucien tilted his head. "I'm not offering you a future."
Her breath caught.
"I'm offering you the present," he continued. "Stability. Power. Time."
She laughed quietly. "You make it sound like a business contract."
"That's because emotions make people careless," he said. "And careless people die."
Ariella stood.
She walked toward him slowly, stopping just short of touching distance.
"You stepped in tonight," she said. "You crossed a line you didn't need to cross."
Lucien's eyes darkened. "You think I regret it?"
"No," she replied. "I think you don't understand what you started."
Something shifted in the air.
Lucien's hand lifted—stopping inches from her wrist, as if asking permission without words.
"Then explain it to me," he said quietly.
Ariella swallowed.
"When you protected my family," she said, voice low, "you didn't just defeat Daniel. You rewrote something inside me."
Lucien's fingers slowly closed around her wrist—not tight, not possessive. Anchoring.
"That's dangerous," he said.
"Yes," she agreed. "For both of us."
For a moment, neither moved.
The city hummed outside. The world kept turning.
Then Lucien released her.
"You should sleep," he said, stepping back. "Tomorrow, the real war begins."
Her heart ached unexpectedly.
"Lucien," she called.
He turned.
"Thank you," she said—not for the power, not for the revenge—but for seeing her.
He inclined his head slightly. "Rest, Ariella."
When the door closed behind him, she pressed a hand to her chest.
Her pulse was still racing.
Across the city, Daniel Royce sat alone in a dimly lit apartment that was not his own.
His accounts were frozen. His name was poison. His father wouldn't answer his calls.
Everything had been stripped away.
Everything except hatred.
He stared at the burner phone in his hand.
"Lucien Blackwood," he muttered. "You think you've won."
He typed a message and sent it.
You can protect her from me.
Then another.
But you can't protect her from the truth.
Daniel smiled for the first time that night.
"Let's see what happens when she learns who you really are."
Ariella lay awake long after midnight.
Somewhere deep inside her, a quiet certainty formed.
Daniel was not finished.
And neither was Lucien Blackwood.
This time, love would not be her weakness.
But it might become her greatest risk.