The air inside the office felt heavier after Lucian's words.
"They've started hunting you directly."
Selina stood motionless near the desk, her thoughts struggling to settle.
Everything was accelerating too quickly.
The memories.
The truth about her identity.
The people watching the Vale estate.
And now—
the realization that she might no longer be safe anywhere connected to her old life.
Lucian picked up his phone again, studying another incoming security update silently.
Selina watched him carefully.
"You already knew this would happen eventually."
It wasn't a question.
Lucian locked the screen before answering.
"Yes."
Selina exhaled softly.
"Then why do you still look concerned?"
For a brief moment, Lucian's expression hardened.
"Because the timing changed."
Silence followed.
Selina crossed her arms slowly.
"In the previous outcomes, how long did it take them to find me?"
Lucian looked at her steadily.
"Usually several months after your engagement announcement."
Selina frowned immediately.
"But this time I ended things with Adrian much earlier."
"Yes."
"That should have delayed things."
"It should have."
The room grew quiet again.
Selina's pulse slowed heavily.
If changing her fate caused events to happen earlier instead of preventing them—
then what exactly had she altered?
Lucian seemed to understand her thoughts immediately.
"They accelerated because you became visible sooner."
Selina looked at him carefully.
"Visible how?"
Lucian walked toward the desk and opened one of the files still resting there.
He handed her several printed reports.
Selina scanned them quickly.
Her eyes narrowed almost instantly.
"These are corporate movement records."
"Yes."
Selina turned another page.
Blackwood Enterprises.
Vale Group.
Investment shifts.
Strategic restructuring.
Then she stopped.
Her own name appeared repeatedly throughout the reports.
Internal recommendations submitted under Damian's authority.
Business projections linked directly to her analyses.
Public board acknowledgments.
Selina slowly looked up.
"They noticed me through business activity."
Lucian nodded once.
"In previous outcomes, you stayed isolated from major corporate decisions."
A pause.
"But this time your involvement created measurable changes."
Selina's chest tightened faintly.
Because he was right.
The moment she stopped quietly accepting neglect, she began influencing things around her naturally.
The Vale family noticed.
Blackwood noticed.
And now—
other people had noticed too.
Selina placed the documents down carefully.
"So I exposed myself without realizing it."
Lucian's gaze remained steady.
"You survived longer by becoming stronger."
That answer unsettled her strangely.
Because it wasn't reassurance.
It was trade-off.
Strength had made her visible.
And visibility invited danger.
The room fell silent again.
Then suddenly—
Selina's phone vibrated sharply in her coat pocket.
Both of them looked toward it immediately.
The screen displayed one name.
Damian Vale.
Selina's fingers tightened slightly around the phone.
Lucian watched her carefully.
"He's calling earlier than expected."
Selina looked up.
"You think he knows?"
Lucian's expression remained unreadable.
"I think something forced him to move faster too."
The phone continued vibrating between her fingers.
Selina hesitated briefly before answering.
"…Hello?"
Damian's voice came through calm as always.
But beneath the calm—
tension.
"Where are you?"
Selina leaned lightly against the desk.
"I stayed out late."
"That isn't what I asked."
Her grip tightened faintly.
Lucian remained silent nearby, listening carefully.
Selina looked toward the window.
"I'm safe."
A pause followed.
Then Damian spoke again, lower this time.
"Return home immediately."
Something about his tone made her chest tighten.
Not anger.
Urgency.
Selina frowned slightly.
"What happened?"
Silence.
Then—
"We need to talk."
That alone was unusual enough.
Damian Vale never asked for conversations.
Only instructions.
Selina glanced briefly toward Lucian.
His expression remained coldly focused now.
As if he already disliked where this was heading.
Selina returned her attention to the call.
"What kind of conversation?"
Another pause.
Then Damian finally said—
"About your parents."
The room went completely still.
Selina's heartbeat stumbled painfully once.
Lucian's eyes darkened immediately.
On the phone, Damian continued quietly.
"Come back to the estate, Selina."
The line disconnected.
Silence filled the office instantly.
Selina slowly lowered the phone from her ear.
Lucian stepped forward immediately.
"You're not going."
Selina looked at him sharply.
"You heard him."
"Yes."
"And?"
Lucian's jaw tightened faintly.
"They should not know you've learned the truth already."
Selina frowned.
"Maybe they don't."
Lucian gave her a look that almost felt impatient for the first time.
"Selina."
That single word carried enough meaning.
She looked away briefly.
Because deep down—
she understood his concern.
The timing was wrong.
Too sudden.
Too convenient.
The men outside the Vale estate appeared.
Then Damian suddenly wanted to discuss her parents.
No.
Something had shifted.
Lucian spoke again quietly.
"In every previous outcome, Damian avoided that conversation entirely."
Selina's eyes narrowed slightly.
"So why now?"
Lucian's expression darkened.
"Because they're losing control of the situation."
The answer settled heavily in the room.
Selina turned toward the window slowly.
The Vale mansion.
The place she spent twenty years calling home.
The place where she cried alone.
Worked endlessly for approval.
Loved people who never truly chose her back.
And now—
possibly the same place where the truth about her identity had been hidden deliberately for years.
Her chest tightened faintly again.
Not grief.
Not attachment.
Something more complicated.
Loss mixed with anger.
Lucian watched her carefully.
"You already know it isn't safe."
Selina remained silent.
Because safety was no longer the real issue.
If she refused to return now—
everything would change permanently.
The fragile illusion between her and the Vale family would finally break apart completely.
And despite everything—
part of her still wasn't ready for that.
Lucian seemed to notice immediately.
His voice softened slightly.
"You do not owe them loyalty simply because they raised you."
Selina closed her eyes briefly.
"That's easy for you to say."
"No," Lucian replied quietly.
"It isn't."
The silence that followed felt heavier than before.
Selina looked at him again slowly.
For the first time tonight—
he didn't look like the cold, unreadable man everyone feared.
He looked tired.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Like someone who had watched her walk toward destruction repeatedly and no longer knew how to stop it gently.
Selina's grip around her phone loosened slightly.
Then suddenly—
another notification appeared across the screen.
Unknown Number.
A message.
Her pulse slowed instantly as she opened it.
Only one sentence appeared.
"If you return to the Vale estate alone today, you will not leave it alive."
The blood drained from Selina's face.
Lucian noticed immediately.
"What is it?"
She silently handed him the phone.
His expression turned dangerously cold the moment he read the message.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
That frightened her more than the threat itself.
Lucian looked up slowly.
And this time—
there was no hesitation in his voice at all.
"You're staying with me."