The cameras went crazy, flashes popping everywhere until the ballroom felt like daylight.

Lucian didn’t even hesitate. He pushed Polly away, but not hard enough to make it look like rejection. Just enough to show control. I couldn’t move. I just stood there, frozen, watching as the two of them walked forward like they belonged together.

He slipped out of his suit jacket, that perfectly tailored black one, and laid it over Polly’s shoulders. The future ruthless king of New York busiess world with the darling daughter of the Velasquez family. They looked perfect. Too perfect.

Then his eyes found mine. For a moment, I thought I’d see something familiar, but instead his face went cold.

“Aurelia.”

That was all. Just my name, flat and distant. He used to say it like it meant something. Now it sounded like a stranger calling me out in a crowd.

My cheeks burned. What happened to the man who once made me believe I mattered?

Polly leaned into him, her hand brushing the lapel of his jacket like she owned him. “Lucian, the champagne’s too cold. Can you get me something warmer? Maybe ginger tea?”

He didn’t argue. He didn’t question. He just nodded once and walked away like a soldier carrying out orders.

A couple minutes later, he was back, setting a delicate porcelain cup in her hands. Steam curled into the air. His gaze softened as he looked at her. “Careful. It’s hot. Sip slowly.”

In my last life, when my body ached and I couldn’t even stand straight during my period, a steaming cup of ginger tea always appeared at my side. He never said a word back then. I only ever knew it was him because no one else cared enough to notice.

Now all of that tenderness belonged to her.

I turned away before the tears could spill and hurried out of the hall, the noise of the flashes still chasing me.

***

Back at the Velasquez place, I let the bridal shop girls fuss over me. They slipped one white dress after another onto me, telling me how gorgeous I looked, how perfect I’d be as a bride. I just stood there in silence, staring at myself in the mirror like it was some stranger’s reflection.

I already knew the truth. Marrying Viktor was a trap I’d never crawl out of.

That night I couldn’t sleep. I tossed, I turned, I stared at the ceiling until my eyes burned. Finally, I made up my mind. I had to run.

The next morning I slipped out with a few pieces of jewelry, the kind that could pay for a plane ticket and a new life. At the first store, the manager smiled politely but pushed them back toward me. “Sorry, Miss Velasquez. We can’t take these.”

At the second store, same thing. Third, fourth, all the same. By the fifth, I pressed the man harder, my voice shaking. “Tell me why. Why won’t you take them?”

He looked uncomfortable, his eyes darting to the door. Finally, he sighed. “Mr. Roberts gave the order. Anyone who touches your jewelry is finished in this city.”

Heat rushed to my face. Viktor had already cut off every path before I even tried to take it. I knew the moment I vanished, my father would freeze all my cards too. Viktor understood exactly how much I needed cash. That was why he was strangling me with it.

I walked aimlessly until my phone buzzed with a notification. An upcoming auction in Manhattan. Celebrities, collectors, rare treasures.

I stopped dead. An idea lit up in me. If I couldn’t sell directly, I could slip my things into an auction, anonymously. Viktor couldn’t trace that.

That same afternoon, I contacted the house and sent over the emerald brooch… one of my most valuable pieces.

When the night of the auction arrived, I tucked myself into the shadows of the room. A wide-brimmed hat covered half my face. I kept my posture low, and invisible, though my heart was thudding like crazy.

And then I saw them. Lucian and Polly. Sitting in the front row like they owned the place.

I shouldn’t have looked. But my eyes betrayed me, fixing on them, refusing to let go.

When the auctioneer rolled out a pair of antique couple’s watches, Polly’s eyes lit up like fireworks. She leaned into Lucian, her voice high and sweet. “Lucian, those would look amazing on us. Matching, you know? Buy them for me?”

Lucian’s expression barely shifted. He lifted his hand with that commanding ease of his, “Put them on the block.”

The crowd buzzed instantly. His reputation always carried weight. The sourness swelled up my throat, but I forced myself to swallow it back down.

The bids shot higher and higher until the price was obscene. Of course Lucian won. Cheers filled the room as he unclasped his own watch, the one I knew so well, and replaced it with the antique piece.

The watch he’d just discarded so easily… I had given it to him. On his birthday.

And now it meant nothing.

Lucian once told me he would always treasure the watch I gave him. Said he’d wear it forever. But tonight, I watched him take it off like it meant nothing.

I sat frozen in the corner of the auction hall while he stood at the front with Polly. Their fingers brushed together before he finally laced his hand with hers. They looked ready to leave, like I wasn’t even there.

Polly’s sharp eyes found me anyway. Her smile was sweet, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Lucian, that old watch is such an eyesore. Why don’t you throw it out? That way no one will keep leaving their little gifts lying around. Isn’t that right, sister?”

My teeth sank into my lip so hard I tasted blood.

Lucian’s gaze slid toward me for the briefest second. His eyes touched mine, red and wet, and he looked like he’d been caught staring at fire. He dropped his gaze instantly.

Then his mouth curved, faint, cold. “Let’s go,” he said to Polly.

She smirked at me like she’d won and walked off with him, their shoulders brushing as they disappeared into the crowd.

When the auction finally ended, I stumbled to the back office to settle my earnings, but the clerk shook her head. “Sorry, Ms. Velasquez. Your account’s been frozen.”

That was it. The last thread I was holding onto snapped.

I walked outside in a haze, and the chill night air slapped my face. A black Maybach pulled up in front of me, silent as a shadow.

The window rolled down. Viktor sat inside.

“Miss Velasquez. Mr. Roberts asked me to remind you… the wedding is almost here. Best not to entertain thoughts that don’t belong to you. Stay home. Be a good bride.”

Then the car slipped away, leaving me alone in the wind.

That night, I dreamed.

I dreamed of another life, one where Lucian clasped a necklace around my neck and whispered my name with a smile. Aurelia. His Aurelia.

But the dream twisted. In this life, Lucian was holding Polly, her belly round with his child. He turned to me, and his eyes hard with contempt. “A fickle woman like you thinks she deserves me?”

I jolted awake, gasping and my body soaked in sweat. Staring at the canopy above my bed, I felt something hollow inside me. Maybe… maybe it was time to let go.

After that, I stayed home. I didn’t step outside for days.

***

A week before the wedding, a friend sent me tickets to a polo match. “Go have fun before you’re tied down,” she’d teased. I didn’t want to refuse her kindness, so I went.

The last thing I expected was to see Lucian and Polly there. Again.

They rode into the field side by side, their matching white breeches and navy jackets gleaming in the sun. Both astride tall, elegant horses, they looked like they belonged in some glossy fairytale painting—him commanding and refined, her glowing at his side.

My chest ached. Lucian never cared for polo. He was only here for her.

I spotted my friend in the stands and started toward her, but a sharp cry split through the cheer of the crowd.

“Oh my god! Polly’s horse is bolting!”

I whipped around. Her stallion tore across the grass in a frenzy, hooves pounding the earth, foam flying from its mouth. Polly clung to the reins, terror etched across her face.

And then her eyes locked onto mine.

In that breathless instant, she yanked the reins. The wild animal charged straight toward me.

The thunder of hooves filled my ears. Too fast. Too close. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.

And then I saw him.

Lucian.

He launched into motion, spurring his own horse forward. He had a choice. One path cut toward me. The other toward her.

Time slowed. The crowd blurred.

I watched him lean low and his arms hooking around Polly as he swept her clean off the saddle. Together they tumbled safely into the grass, his body shielding hers.

And I… I stood frozen, as the stallion barreled into me.

The impact knocked me sprawling. A hoof slammed down onto my hip, another onto my thigh. Bones cracked, splintered. The pain was blinding, sharp enough to rip the air from my lungs.

The last thing I saw before darkness claimed me was Lucian clutching Polly to his chest… not even glancing my way.

***

When I finally surfaced from the void, the first face I saw was Fatima with Polly right beside her.

“Oh thank God, you’re awake,” Fatima whispered, “You’ve been unconscious for two days. We thought we might lose you.”

I blinked, until the sight of my lower body sharpened. My hips and legs were bound and braced, suspended in a cruel contraption above the bed.

I tried to move. Nothing. No sensation. Panic crashed over me like icy water. My hands trembled as I clutched Polly’s wrist. “What… what happened to me?”

Her eyes brimmed with tears, but they were practiced, theatrical. She shook her head, choked on sobs, and turned away.

“Polly! Tell me what’s wrong with me!”

Her crying only grew louder.

It was my stepmother who finally spoke, “The doctors said… your hips and legs were shattered. There’s severe nerve damage and they aren’t sure if you’ll ever walk again.”

My ears rang and for a moment I couldn’t hear a thing.

“This… this can’t be real…”

And then, like lightning, the memory of that afternoon came back. My eyes burned hot as I grabbed Polly’s wrist and screamed at her, “You did it on purpose, didn’t you?! You did it!”

Her eyes flickered, amused, satisfied, but she stayed quiet. I saw how her smile twisted.

“I saw you. I saw your hands jerk the reins. You steered that horse right at me! You wanted this to happen!”

“Aurelia… I know you’re upset about your legs, but how could you accuse me of something so awful? I would never. We’re sisters.”

I bitterly laughed. This was always her game. Do the worst thing and then cry as if she were the victim. It had been the same in the past, the same in the present.

“It’s you!” I shouted. “It’s always you pretending, always—”

“ENOUGH.”

I froze. My eyes shifted toward the door, and there he was. Lucian. He stood in the doorway holding a bouquet of white lilies, his expression impossible to read.

“What happened was just an accident, Aurelia. Stop putting blame on Polly.”

Accident?

All at once, my anger drained. What was left inside me was just… hollow.

“Get out,” I whispered.

“Sister—”

“All of you, get out!” I grabbed the glass figurine from beside my bed and hurled it. It shattered across the floor.

The room fell into silence. No one argued. They exchanged glances, and then slowly filed out.

Lucian was the last. He set the flowers down on my table, his hand lingering there for a moment. His throat moved like he wanted to speak, but he didn’t. He just left, closing the door quietly behind him.

I stared at the bouquet. Then I grabbed it, flung it against the wall, and watched the petals scatter across the floor like broken glass.

…

Because of my injury, the wedding with Viktor was postponed. The Velasquez family politely suggested ending the engagement, but Viktor shocked everyone by announcing, “Even if Aurelia never walks again, I’ll still marry her.”

In New York high society, people called me lucky. They said I was blessed to have the loyalty of a man like him, even in my broken state.

But they didn’t know the truth.

Behind closed doors, Viktor was not a savior. He was a wolf. His voice, low and sharp, stayed etched in my head. “Since you’re a cripple now, you’d better learn to behave. Once you step into my family, you’ll sit there like a pretty little ornament. You don’t move. You don’t leave unless I tell you.”

I gave him nothing but a cold glance. No words. No reaction.

He smirked, bored. “Pathetic.” And just like that, he walked away.

Lucian came by once more after that, but I wouldn’t see him. He stood outside my door for a long time, like he was caught between leaving and breaking it down. Eventually, he left.

Later, someone handed me his letter of apology, along with a check. I tore it in half without reading and tossed it in the trash.

Lucian was a storm I could not afford to let touch me again.

And yet, his name still found me, drifting in from whispers, news, conversations I wasn’t meant to hear. No matter how much I shut him out, he was always there, like the shadow of a man who refused to leave my world.

I heard whispers around the house that Dad was on cloud nine. His company had just gone public in Singapore and he was so thrilled he moved up the wedding with Polly to this month.

And then there was Lucian. Word was, he was always dropping by to see her. He rode with her, cooked for her, she made him drinks—the two of them looked like some picture-perfect couple while I sat broken in a chair.

That afternoon he came again. I was by the terrace when voices from the study drifted out.

“Polly, you’ve been riding since you were a child. That mare is solid, well-trained. How did she suddenly bolt?” Lucian’s tone was steady, deep, impossible to ignore.

“You think I sabotaged it?”

“I just want answers.”

The room went quiet.

“Fine, I did it. I couldn’t stand the way she kept looking at you like a lost puppy. She’s Viktor’s bride, not yours. Why pretend otherwise? She got what she deserved.”

My fingers clenched on the wheels of my chair. The autumn wind cut through me, colder than the words. Lucian was a man who never tolerated mistakes. I thought, just maybe, he’d tear into her the way he turned his back on me. But silence stretched, heavy and endless.

Polly must’ve realized she went too far. Her voice softened. “Lucian, I lost my head. Jealousy… I let it control me. I’ll fix this, I’ll get Aurelia the best doctors for her legs. I swear.”

After a long pause, he finally spoke. “Don’t let it happen again.”

Four words. Nothing more. And still, they crushed me.

Polly rushed to cover her slip. Something about fetching fresh coffee beans, eager to escape. Lucian let out a faint sigh and stepped out of the study.

That’s when his eyes met mine. Cold. Watching. Waiting.

He froze. “You… heard all that?”