27 (Lucian’s POV) Reflections
Lucian
Ever since the kiss between Mara and Darian, I’d been distant with her. Guarded. I spent more time at the office than I
needed to.
Came home late. Slept little. Worked too much.
But the truth?
I couldn’t stand the idea of her with him.
Every time I sat alone in my office, all I could picture was Darian with his hands on her, whispering things I never had the courage to say. And it shouldn’t have mattered-but it did. It hurt.
She stopped coming to breakfast, and I didn’t push. Martha had made the dining table a warzone. I knew she’d been reporting Mara constantly. I ignored it-until my father linked me directly and insisted we come. I thought maybe it had something to do with Tiffany moving in. Maybe it was just some display of forced unity.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
When I heard that video playing from Mara’s phone-the one of me and Tina in bed-rage shot through me. Not at Mara.
At Tina.
Why couldn’t she let go?
I’d sent her money. Told her to move on. Begged her, even. But instead, she was tormenting my wife with old recordings from a life that no longer existed. I knew Tina was hurting. But so was I. She had the freedom to love again, to rebuild.
Mara and I? We were trapped.
My father viewed Mara as an asset, nothing more. If she left, he would exile her family without hesitation. And I… I wasn’t allowed to let her go. Not without consequences.
So I stayed.
I tried.
But it wasn’t easy knowing her heart still beat for someone else.
She and Darian had history, feelings I couldn’t compete with. I thought maybe seeing Tiffany with him would help her detach. Maybe she’d finally move on.
But then came that breakfast.
Mara’s outburst stunned me-and I knew it stunned my father even more. Her hands shook, her voice cracked, but there was a fire in her eyes. I’d never seen her like that. She’d been pushed too far. Martha’s cruelty. Tina’s messages. My
silence. Darian’s presence.
She cracked.
And I didn’t blame her.
I stopped Martha from slapping her. That was my line. Say what you want. Scheme all you want. But no one-no one- touches my wife.
Then my father pulled out the photos. The lace panties. Said they were found in Darian’s laundry.
I looked. I smelled the fabric. It carried Mara’s scent, and I hated that I knew it.
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27 (Lucian’s POV) Reflections
Still, even with all that-disgust twisted in my gut.
+8 Ponds?
Because even if the evidence were real, Darian was just as guilty. Yet it was only Mara my father wanted to punish. He wanted her erased.
I was ashamed of how easily he moved to condemn her. And more ashamed that I hadn’t stood between her and this
madness sooner.
I dragged her out of the room.
I didn’t care what it looked like.
Back in the bedroom, I watched her collapse onto the bed, shaking with fear, and my chest ached. She was too young this. Too innocent. Martha had been cruel to me my whole life-I should’ve known she wouldn’t spare Mara.
But when Mara finally spoke… when she told me it wasn’t true… I believed her.
for
I knew she had once cared for Darian. I knew that. But she had pride. She had dignity. And she would never stoop so low.
I pulled her close, held her as her body trembled. She needed comfort, and for once, I gave it freely.
I didn’t say much.
But I made a silent promise to myself as I held her: I will find out who set her up. I will end this.
No matter who I had to go through to get the truth.
Darian had done the right thing for once-he’d cleared Mara’s name. My father had sent Martha away, claiming it was for her to reflect, but I’d seen this play out before. Temporary banishment, temporary regret. She’d be back eventually,
unchanged.
Still, I wasn’t over it.
The way my father had treated Mara-believed those lies without hesitation-left a bitter taste in my mouth. He hadn’t treated her like family. He treated her like a mistake he’d bought and now wanted to return.
She was young, yes. Prone to mistakes like anyone. But that didn’t excuse the way she was vilified and threatened. If it weren’t for the fear of her parents being cast out, I knew she would’ve run the first chance she got.
And who could blame her?
I’d spent the past few weeks buried in overtime, saving every extra coin. Mara needed to get out of that house, away from Darian, away from my father-and if I was honest, maybe away from me, too, just long enough to breathe.
Even if we never became lovers, we could at least become something. Friends, maybe. Something real.
So I planned something different.
A trip. Just us. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere far. A resort tucked away from Nighthorn politics and history. No Martha. No Darian. No hovering eyes.
When I got home, it was just after two in the morning. I didn’t expect her to be awake, and she wasn’t. I showered quickly
and wandered into her room, wanting to check on her before I passed out.
She looked peaceful, curled up on her bed, breathing soft and steady.
Then I noticed something poking out from under her pillow. Curious, I pulled it out.
I smiled.
A sleek little vibrator.
My wife had been taking care of herself in more ways than one.
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The memory of the last time I saw her use it-unaware th
The sounds she made, the way her body moved… God, I hoped she’d moan like that for me someday.
But not today.
I placed the toy back where I found it, careful not to disturb her.
In the morning, I woke late. Unusual for me. It was already nine. I stretched, groggy, and glanced across to Mara’s room.
She was on the bed, reading, sunlight warming her face through the curtains.
I got up, showered quickly, and came back into the room.
“Good morning, Mara,” I said.
She looked up at me with those soft brown eyes-and smiled.
“Good morning,” she replied, and something in her expression was lighter. Calmer. Maybe that orgasm did take the edge
off.
“Have you eaten?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Was waiting for you to wake up so we could eat together. Before you go out.”
1 paused.
It was time to tell her the truth.
I wasn’t going anywhere today.
And maybe-just maybe-this was the start of something different.
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28 (Lucian’s POV) Willing
