41 Some Clarity
Mara
The speed at which Lucian left the house told me something was off. He said he had somewhere to be, but he didn’t linger-not even for a kiss goodbye.
That wasn’t like him. And I hadn’t been in the bathroom long when my phone buzzed at 1:30 with an MMS
from an unknown number.
I opened it.
A photo.
Lucian. At Jame’s Cafeteria.
With Tina.
She was hugging him-and kissing him. Not on the cheek. On the mouth. My stomach twisted. My first instinct was denial. Maybe it was an old photo. Maybe it was fake. But no-the timestamp was current. And
the clothes he left in matched what he was wearing in the image.
I stared at it for a long time, frozen. Trying not to cry. Failing.
Another message followed.
“Be careful how quickly you give your heart away.”
No name. No number I recognized.
Tina. She didn’t send it herself-that much was clear. But she’d made sure it got to me. She wanted me to see
- She wanted to shake me.
And it worked.
Lucian had told me where he was going-James’ Cafeteria-but not who he was meeting. That part stung.
But if it were a secret, he would’ve lied altogether. So I waited. I wanted to believe him. I needed to hear it
from his own lips before I jumped to conclusions.
Still, I kept looking at the photo. Over and over. Like maybe if I stared hard enough, it would change. It didn’t. And every time, the pain hit again.
But when he walked through the door at two, something inside me settled-just a little. He came home. No delay. No detours. And judging by the timestamp and the distance, they hadn’t been together long.
The image was real-but it didn’t tell the whole story.
When Lucian explained everything-Tina’s message, the pregnancy, the kiss-I was shaken. I didn’t want this kind of mess between us. I didn’t sign up for this kind of history bleeding into our life.
So I locked myself in the bathroom-not to cry more, but to think. To breathe. And in that quiet space, everything began to click.
Tina hadn’t just gotten pregnant. She wanted to. She was playing a long game-one meant to break us. But she’d picked the wrong woman.
< 41 Some Clarity
I wasn’t going to scream. I wasn’t going to throw things or fall apart. I was going to make her lose.
When I walked out of that bathroom, I knew exactly how to handle her. And I saw it in Lucian’s face-the
surprise. The relief.
He hadn’t expected me to fight for him. But I would. I was.
“I’m not mad,” I told him. “This happened before we were married.”
I looked him straight in the eye.
“But no more surprises, Lucian. Please.”
+8 Points >
He stepped forward, gently cupping my face. Then he leaned in, brushing his lips against mine, resting his forehead to mine. I felt the weight he’d been carrying ease a little.
And I knew we’d crossed something hard.
But we’d crossed it together.
“Thank you, Mara,” he breathed. “I meant what I said in the tent. I’ll never cheat on you. I’ll never do anything that could hurt you. I mean that.”
I believed him. Not because I wanted to, but because I felt it-deep in my bones.
He kissed me, full of passion and relief, and I kissed him back with everything I had. But something tugged at me-a thought I couldn’t ignore.
I pulled away gently. “Lucian… I don’t think Tina sent that message.”
He blinked. “Of course she didn’t. She had someone take the photo and send it to you. I wouldn’t put it past her.”
I shook my head slowly. “No. That’s not it. Tina’s always wanted me to know it was her. Every message she’s ever sent had her name signed loud and clear-like a taunt. This one didn’t. It felt different.”
He frowned, trying to make sense of it. “Maybe she got scared? I warned her after that last message-told her to back off.”
I gave a small, sad smile and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. “She never stopped, Lucian.”
He stilled.
“What?”
“She never stopped messaging me,” I said, calmly. “Every day while we were at the resort, she sent
something. Always hinting that you were with her. She didn’t know we were together, so she just kept trying to stir doubt.”
His shock was instant-and real.
“Mara, why didn’t you tell me?”
I let out a slow breath. “Because there was no point. I knew she wouldn’t stop. I hoped she’d get tired eventually and move on. I wasn’t about to change my number just because she wanted to make noise in my head.”
Lucian’s jaw tightened. He sat beside me, shaking his head.
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< 41 Some Clarity
“So you think I’m being watched?”
I nodded. “Not just you. Us. Someone’s keeping tabs on both of us.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You think it’s Martha?”
“I’m not pointing fingers-yet. But it wouldn’t be out of character.”
He exhaled sharply. “No. This smells more like Darian. His ego’s bruised, and he never learned how to let go.”
I let out a quiet laugh. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. Just keep it in mind-whoever it is, they’re watching for a reason. A reason we haven’t figured out yet.”
Lucian looked at me, frustration simmering behind his calm. I knew how much he hated being manipulated. Now he wasn’t just protecting himself-he was protecting us.
“Come on,” he said suddenly, reaching for my hand and tugging me to my feet.
I raised an eyebrow. “Where are we going?”
“We’re going to shower,” he said, his lips curving into something between a smirk and a promise. “And then we’re spending the rest of the day anywhere but in this house.”
My insides fluttered at the word shower. I knew exactly what he meant. And I didn’t mind one bit.
