Selina stood frozen in the center of the Blackwood office, the words still echoing in her mind like an echo that refused to die.
You died once, Selina Vale.
The sentence didn't feel like information anymore.
It felt like a wound.
A truth that had been buried for too long and was now clawing its way back into reality.
Lucian Blackwood stood across from her, still as stone, watching her carefully—like he was afraid she might shatter at any second.
But Selina didn't feel like she was shattering.
She felt like she was being pulled apart from the inside.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Deliberately.
"You're not making sense," she said finally, her voice controlled but thinner than before. "If you were there… then why don't I remember you? Why is there nothing? Not even a shadow of it."
Lucian didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he walked toward the glass wall, turning slightly away from her as if the view outside the city was easier to face than her eyes.
For a moment, the silence stretched.
Heavy.
Dense.
Almost suffocating.
Then—
"You shouldn't remember it," he said quietly.
Selina frowned. "That's not an explanation."
Lucian's reflection in the glass showed no emotion.
But his voice carried something different.
Something restrained.
"Because that night… wasn't supposed to be remembered in any timeline."
Her heartbeat skipped.
Selina stepped forward slowly.
"What are you talking about?"
Lucian's fingers tightened slightly at his side.
For the first time since she had met him—
he looked like a man carrying something unbearable.
"There are things," he said carefully, "that don't belong in this version of reality."
Selina let out a short, disbelieving breath.
"This sounds insane."
"I know," he said immediately.
That answer surprised her.
Because there was no hesitation.
No defense.
Just acceptance.
As if he had already lost the battle of being believed a long time ago.
Selina's grip on the file tightened again.
"Then explain it properly," she said, voice firmer now. "From the beginning. No riddles. No half sentences."
Lucian turned back to face her slowly.
And this time—
his silver eyes didn't look cold.
They looked tired.
"…You were not meant to die that night," he said.
Selina went still.
Lucian continued.
"And I was not meant to exist in this timeline after it."
Silence fell again.
But this time, it wasn't just tension.
It was something heavier.
Something unstable.
Selina's brows tightened.
"You're talking like time itself changed."
"It did," Lucian said simply.
A pause.
Then—
"Because I changed it."
The words hit her like a shockwave.
Selina's mind refused to process it at first.
Then slowly—
"What do you mean… you changed it?"
Lucian stepped closer again.
This time, there was no hesitation in his movement.
Only certainty.
"I made a choice," he said quietly. "A choice that broke the original timeline."
Selina's breath grew uneven.
"Original timeline?"
Lucian nodded once.
"There was a version of everything that came before this," he said. "Where you died permanently."
The room felt colder suddenly.
Selina's voice dropped.
"…And you're saying you fixed it?"
Lucian's expression darkened slightly.
"No."
A pause.
Then softer—
"I saved you."
The silence that followed was unbearable.
Selina stared at him, searching his face for signs of manipulation, exaggeration, insanity—anything that could make this less real.
But Lucian Blackwood had never once looked unstable.
Not until now.
Not when speaking about her.
"You expect me to believe this?" she asked quietly.
Lucian didn't answer immediately.
Then—
"I don't expect you to believe anything yet," he said. "Only to survive long enough to remember."
Selina's chest tightened slightly.
That phrase again.
Remember.
She took a slow step back.
"Even if what you're saying is true… why would you do all of this for me?"
A flicker passed through Lucian's expression.
Not hesitation.
Not confusion.
Something deeper.
Something almost painful.
"Because I failed you once," he said quietly.
Selina froze.
Lucian continued.
"And I watched you die because of it."
Her breath caught.
The words were not dramatic.
Not exaggerated.
They were spoken like fact.
Heavy.
Final.
Unchangeable.
Selina shook her head slightly.
"This doesn't make sense… I've never met you before this life."
Lucian's gaze sharpened slightly.
"You have," he said.
A pause.
Then softer—
"Just not this version of me."
Selina's mind spun.
Different versions.
Timeline changes.
Death that wasn't permanent.
Memories that shouldn't exist.
Nothing aligned.
Nothing made sense.
And yet—
somewhere deep inside her chest, something uncomfortable stirred again.
Not recognition.
Not clarity.
But something close to instinct.
Like her body was reacting before her mind could understand.
Selina slowly placed the file on the nearby table.
"…If everything you're saying is true," she said carefully, "then why now? Why reveal this to me now?"
Lucian's eyes darkened slightly.
"Because the fractures are returning."
Selina frowned. "Fractures?"
Lucian stepped closer again, stopping just a few feet away from her.
"Reality doesn't reset cleanly," he said. "It leaves traces. Echoes. Glitches."
Selina shook her head slightly.
"I don't understand any of this."
Lucian's voice softened.
"You don't need to understand everything," he said. "Not yet."
A pause.
Then—
"But you need to trust one thing."
Selina looked up at him cautiously.
Lucian's gaze held hers completely now.
Unbroken.
Unwavering.
"If I wanted to harm you," he said quietly, "you would already be gone."
Silence.
Selina didn't respond immediately.
Because strangely—
she believed him.
Not because she trusted him.
But because something about him felt too controlled to lie about something like that.
Too precise.
Too certain.
A faint knock interrupted the moment.
The office door opened slightly.
One of Lucian's assistants stepped in cautiously.
"Sir… the Vale family is requesting immediate access to Miss Vale."
Selina turned slightly.
The name hit differently now.
Vale family.
Lucian didn't look away from Selina.
"Tell them no," he said flatly.
The assistant hesitated. "They insisted—"
"I don't care."
The interruption ended instantly.
The assistant left.
Silence returned.
Selina looked at Lucian again.
"You just refused them… for me."
Lucian's expression didn't change.
"I refuse anyone who disrupts your stability," he said simply.
Selina's breath tightened slightly.
This wasn't normal protection.
This wasn't family duty.
This was something else entirely.
Something far more dangerous.
Lucian stepped slightly closer again.
His voice lowered.
"You asked me earlier why I'm like this," he said. "There is only one answer that matters."
Selina didn't move.
Didn't speak.
Lucian looked at her directly.
"I cannot afford to lose you again."
Silence filled the space between them.
Heavy.
Unfinished.
Unstable.
And for the first time since arriving at Blackwood Enterprises—
Selina didn't feel like she was standing in front of a CEO.
She felt like she was standing in front of someone who had already lived through her death… and never recovered from it.