Selina barely noticed when night turned into morning.
The city outside the glass walls had slowly changed from scattered lights to pale gray dawn, but neither of them had moved much from where they stood.
Too much had changed in a single night.
Seven lives.
Seven deaths.
And every version of her life ending beneath the hands of people she once loved.
The knowledge sat heavily inside her chest, colder than grief and sharper than heartbreak.
Because heartbreak implied surprise.
This wasn't surprise anymore.
It was pattern.
Selina stood near the window silently, her thoughts moving slower than usual now.
Not because she lacked questions.
Because there were too many.
Lucian remained nearby, watching her carefully without interrupting her silence.
That alone felt strange.
Most people always demanded reactions.
Explanations.
Emotion.
But Lucian waited.
As if he understood she needed time to rebuild herself around the truth.
After several long minutes, Selina finally spoke.
"In all seven outcomes…"
Her voice sounded quieter than before.
"…did I ever find out who I was?"
Lucian's expression shifted faintly.
"Not completely."
Selina looked at him slowly.
"So every time I died without even knowing my own name."
The bitterness in her voice was subtle.
But real.
Lucian didn't deny it.
That honesty hurt more than comfort would have.
Selina folded her arms tightly.
"And this time?"
Lucian answered immediately.
"This time is different."
A humorless smile touched her lips faintly.
"You've said that a lot tonight."
"Because it matters."
Selina looked away again.
Part of her wanted to believe him completely.
Another part resisted instinctively.
Not because Lucian felt dangerous.
Because hope did.
Hope was what destroyed her in every previous life.
Hope in family.
Hope in love.
Hope that if she gave enough of herself, people would eventually choose her sincerely.
And every single time—
they didn't.
Selina closed her eyes briefly.
When she opened them again, her voice was steadier.
"What happens now?"
Lucian's silver eyes met hers.
"That depends on you."
Selina frowned slightly.
"That's vague."
"It's truthful," he replied calmly.
A pause.
"Until now, you've been reacting to danger after it appears."
Selina remained silent.
Lucian continued quietly.
"But if you want this outcome to survive… you need to move before your enemies do."
The words settled heavily between them.
Move before your enemies do.
For most of her life, Selina had only endured.
Adjusted.
Sacrificed.
She had never once considered fighting back.
Not truly.
Because she never believed she had anything worth protecting about herself.
But now—
everything had changed.
She wasn't Selina Vale.
She never had been.
And suddenly, surviving felt less like selfishness and more like responsibility.
Selina turned fully toward Lucian.
"What exactly are they looking for?"
Lucian's expression darkened slightly.
"We still don't know."
Selina frowned.
"You said the Blackthorn family protected something."
"Yes."
"Then what was it?"
Lucian remained silent briefly before answering.
"Information."
That surprised her.
"What kind of information?"
"We don't know completely," Lucian admitted. "Most records connected to the Blackthorn family were erased after the incident."
Selina's chest tightened faintly again.
Erased.
Not lost.
Destroyed deliberately.
Lucian stepped closer slowly.
"But one thing remained consistent in every investigation."
Selina looked at him carefully.
"The people searching for you believe the final Blackthorn heir inherited access to whatever your family hid."
Silence.
Selina processed that slowly.
"They think I know where it is."
"Yes."
"But I don't."
Lucian's gaze held hers steadily.
"That may not matter."
The answer unsettled her immediately.
Selina frowned.
"Meaning?"
"They may decide eliminating uncertainty is safer than letting you live."
The room fell silent again.
Selina looked away slowly.
It should have frightened her more than it did.
Maybe because after dying once already—
fear no longer felt unfamiliar.
But something else did disturb her.
The realization that her existence alone endangered everyone around her.
Her thoughts immediately drifted toward the Vale family.
Even now.
Even after everything.
A small part of her still worried about them.
Lucian noticed her expression change slightly.
"You're thinking about them."
Selina didn't deny it.
"They raised me."
Lucian's jaw tightened faintly.
"They used you."
"That doesn't erase twenty years."
Silence followed.
Lucian studied her quietly before speaking again.
"This is why you kept dying."
The bluntness of the sentence made her look at him sharply.
Lucian's expression remained calm.
"You continue loving people who treat your existence like a burden."
Selina looked away again immediately.
Because that truth hurt too much.
Not because it was cruel.
Because it was accurate.
The room grew quiet once more.
Then suddenly—
Lucian's phone vibrated sharply against the desk.
The sound cut through the silence instantly.
Selina glanced toward it automatically.
Lucian looked at the screen.
And for the first time that morning—
his expression changed visibly.
Not dramatically.
But enough.
Cold.
Focused.
Dangerously still.
Selina's attention sharpened immediately.
"What happened?"
Lucian didn't answer right away.
Instead, he picked up the phone slowly before handing it to her.
Selina looked down at the screen.
A security image filled the display.
The Vale mansion gates.
And parked directly outside—
a black vehicle she had never seen before.
Several men stood near it.
Not police.
Not media.
Something about them felt wrong immediately.
Professional.
Controlled.
Watching the estate instead of approaching it.
Selina's chest tightened faintly.
"Who are they?"
Lucian's voice lowered.
"They shouldn't have found you this quickly."
The words sent a chill through her instantly.
Selina looked back at the image carefully.
One of the men stood slightly apart from the others.
Tall.
Dark coat.
Face partially hidden.
But even through the blurred image—
she felt something deeply unsettling about him.
As if her instincts recognized danger before her mind could explain why.
Lucian took the phone back slowly.
"They've started moving earlier than before."
Selina frowned slightly.
"Before?"
Lucian's gaze met hers.
"In previous outcomes, they didn't approach the Vale estate until months later."
Silence.
Selina's heartbeat slowed painfully.
The pattern really was changing.
Rapidly.
And somehow—
everything kept accelerating around her.
Lucian's voice became colder now.
"You can't return to the Vale mansion today."
Selina immediately looked at him.
"I can't just disappear."
"Yes, you can."
"That would only make them suspicious."
"They already are."
Silence crashed between them again.
Selina folded her arms tightly.
"If I suddenly vanish, Damian will investigate."
Lucian's expression remained unreadable.
"He already knows more than he's admitting."
That statement made her pause.
Lucian stepped closer slightly.
"You need to understand something now, Selina."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
"The danger around you is no longer theoretical."
Selina's chest tightened faintly.
Lucian continued quietly.
"Last time, they manipulated your emotions first."
A pause.
"This time…"
His silver eyes darkened slightly.
"They've started hunting you directly."