Lucian's pov
The penthouse was too quiet that even the city lights outside the floor-to-ceiling glass seemed to hold their breath, as if London itself knew I'd crossed a line tonight that I couldn't uncross.
I sat in the study, the only room in this place that still felt like mine. The desk lamp cast a low, amber glow across the polished mahogany.
My bandaged knuckles throbbed with sharp, insistent pain that matched the one behind my ribs. Blood had soaked through the gauze in dark patches. I hadn't bothered to change it.
I stared at the wall of monitors, one screen frozen on the security feed from the Grand Horizon Hotel incident .
The lady in the opposite room had caught everything with her camera: Ethan's smug face, Aria's wide eyes as my fist connected with his jaw, again and again.
The footage looped silently. Each punch echoed in my head like a confession I didn't want to hear.
I had lost control,this wasn't the put together Lucian I had worked on for many years.
I'd promised myself years ago—after my father, after the nights I'd hidden bruises under long sleeves—that I would never become him. Never let anger turn my hands into weapons against someone I cared about.
And yet hit her.
The memory slammed into me again: my palm cracking across her cheek in the kitchen, the way her head snapped to the side and the stunned silence that followed. I'd seen the shock in her eyes. The betrayal.
I wish I could turn back the hands of time, maybe to stop it before it happened.But I didn't have such power.
My phone buzzed. I stared at the screen as it lit up.I was my mom.
She had declined coming to the wedding because I refused to invite my father.
It was the thing I hated about her the most,the way she forgave my dad after he hit her. I hated her for standing and weeping like a weakling while my dad whipped me with his belt.
"Hello mom"
"Hey Baby,how are you?I saw the news.Hope you're doing good?"she questioned.Her voice was low and tired. My guess is that she had probably received another beating from the monster she called a husband.
"I'm alright mom,it's nothing serious"I responded ignoring her tone.
"If you say so son.But you have to be careful,I have never known you to go violent, please don't go down that road now.Especially now that you're married to a young lady"
I scoffed "Ohh,is that why you called me?,To warn me against being a replica of your husband?Well it's too late mom,you could have done that when I was a child!"
"Lucian I'm sorry but—"
I immediately disconnected the line before she could finish her sermon about how she loves my dad and how he'll change.
She's either crazy or brain dead to think that after over thirty years of marriage that monster would change.
I opened the drawer and pulled out the contract and flipped to the clause we'd both initialed: Marital duties include full physical intimacy at the husband's discretion. No refusal permitted.
I'd written it myself. A clause that was designed to protect me from attachment.
I hated the words now.
I'd told and tried to convince myself it was just business.
A way to control the board, silence the rumors and use her as a shield to get Ethan's company.
But the moment I saw Ethan's hands on her in that hotel room dragging her back and trying to force his mouth on hers,all I thought about was the easiest way to kill him
I closed the drawer with a hard push
The study door was ajar. I hadn't closed it properly when I came in. I stood and walked to the guest suite where Aria lay. The door was cracked open,soft light spilling into the hallway.
She was asleep.
Curled on her side, her knees drawn up with one arm tucked under her cheek.
I stepped inside.
The room smelled faintly of her ,a mixture of vanilla shampoo and a faint floral scent of whatever lotion she used.
I moved closer. The bed dipped under my weight as I sat on the edge. She didn't stir.
My hand hovered over her cheek—the same one I'd struck.
The skin was still faintly red. I brushed my thumb across it, feather-light. She flinched in her sleep, a small involuntary jerk.
Guilt sliced through me,she looked so innocent and totally undeserving of the hurt she was going through.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, so low even I barely heard it.
She didn't wake.
I stayed there longer than I should have, watching her chest rise and fall, memorizing the way her lashes rested against her cheeks and the way her fingers curled into the pillow like she was holding onto something that wasn't there.
I'd never watched anyone sleep before.This was totally a new territory for me.
She was no longer just a wife on paper.
She was under my skin and in every breath I took when she was near.
And I was terrified of what that meant.
I stood slowly, careful not to wake her. I pulled the blanket higher over her shoulder and left the room.
Back in my study, I poured whiskey. The glass shook in my hand. I downed it in one swallow, the burn doing nothing to quiet the storm inside.
My phone buzzed on the desk. A message from my investigator.
"Ethan is awake and he's talking to the police. He says it was unprovoked.His team wants him to press charges. You have to get here soon sir."
I stared at the screen.A cold smile curving my lips.
Let him talk.Let him press charges.
I want him to crawl back to her with his broken face and broken pride like a pig.
He'll regret ever hurting Aria.