His expression hardens.
“I thought I had moved on. I thought I was over what happened.” He shakes his head slowly. “But I wasn’t.” His voice grows heavier. “I was ready to make Dominic feel what I felt.”
The wind moves through the cemetery again, stirring the grass around Clara’s grave.
Lucien lets out a quiet breath.
“But the day at the bar…” A soft laugh escapes him. Not amused. More like someone remembering the moment their life changed without warning. “I didn’t expect you.”
His eyes finally lift toward me. “I thought you were just another part of the plan.”
He pauses. “But then you sat there… listening to me like I wasn’t a broken mess.” His voice softens. “I was drawn to you.”
The honesty in his tone makes something in my chest drawing tight.
“Your pain… it felt familiar.” He swallows slowly. “Not beautiful in the way people romanticize pain. But real, raw…and I understood it.”
The wind brushes through my hair as he continues.
“You were kind to me when you didn’t have to be. You listened. You looked at me like I was still worth something.”
His voice lowers. “And somewhere along the way… this stopped being revenge.”
He glances toward Clara’s grave for a moment before looking back at me.
“What I said at the house…” His voice almost breaks. “It was real, Sera. All of it.”
The quiet around us grows heavier. “The way I feel about you.” He shakes his head faintly. “I can’t lie to myself about that.” A long breath leaves him. “Even if I wanted to.”
The wind moves through the cemetery again.
And for the first time since he sat down…
I finally turn my head to look at him. For a long moment, I just look at him. Part of me wants to say something bitter. Something sharp, something that would make this easier, something that would push him away the way he deserves but the truth sits heavier in my chest than anger ever could.
Because the truth is…
I love him. I fell for him.
Hard.
And no amount of anger can erase that. My fingers tighten around the edge of the bench as I stare down at the gravel between my shoes. “I keeptrying to think of something cruel to say to you,” I whisper. Lucien doesn’t interrupt. He just waits. “But I can’t.”
The wind moves softly through the cemetery trees.
“I should hate you,” I say, my voice trembling. “After everything that happened… after the lies… after what all of this turned into.” I shake my head slowly. “But I don’t hate you.”
My throat tightens painfully.
“That’s the worst part.” Lucien’s gaze drops to the ground beside us. I swallow hard and force myself to continue. “I wish we met in a different time,” I say quietly. “Before any of this.” Before Dominic. Before Evelyn. Before revenge. Before grief hollowed us both out. Before our lives became something neither of us could escape.
I finally look at him again. “If we had met then… before we belonged to other people…” Something in me aches, slow and unrelenting. “I think we would have loved each other the right way.” The words break slightly as they leave me. “And maybe we would have been happy.”
The silence between us deepens.
For a moment he looks like he’s trying to hold something back but his eyes betray him. They shine with tears he doesn’t want me to see. He looks away quickly, running a hand over his face before letting out a quiet breath.
“I’ve thought about that too,” he admits. His voice is rough now. “If life had been kinder… if the world had moved just a little differently…” He glances at me again. “I think I would’ve spent my whole life loving you.”