CHAPTER 56: YOU MESS ME UP WITHOUT EVEN TRYING!

Lucien’s POV

I’d been busy these days with back-to-back meetings in different cities, and even different countries.

But no matter how far I went, one name never left my mind.

Seraphina.

Was she eating properly? Was someone messing with her again? Was she still hurting, or was someone bullying her?

Those thoughts clung to me like a damn curse.

If I weren’t drowning in work, I would’ve gone to see her with my own eyes. But fate had its ways... and I wasn’t the type to sit around hoping.

When I got word that Asher had fired all the staff and started hiring new ones, I didn’t waste a second.

I planted a few of my own people inside the Lancaster mansion who were my trusted ones, and loyal to me, but their eyes were only on her.

They updated me on everything—her routines, if she was eating, how she looked, what she said.

Call it spying if you want. But I didn’t do it to invade her life.

I just wanted to be sure she was safe. That there was someone near her who wouldn’t hurt her, unlike those bastards who did.

Just like other days, I had a meeting. But this time, it was in the same damn city.

There were no early flights, and running around like a dog chasing deadlines.

Thank God for that.

I was sick of being up in the air, suspended between clouds and boardrooms.

Damn those meetings. Damn the suits and the fake smiles.

I’d take off soon. Leave it all behind.

Screw the money.

I just wanted to see her. I just wanted Seraphina.

I didn’t want to see her on a screen or hear about her through someone else’s words.

I wanted to see her face, hear her voice—even if she didn’t speak to me. I wanted to know if she was still the same or if she had become a little more confident than before.

I wanted to feel her beside me, even if it was for a second.

I had just wrapped up my meeting and was supposed to meet Joseph for some personal matters at the hotel.

Yeah... my hotel.

My phone had been off the whole day, and I hadn’t heard a word about Seraphina because of that.

It was pissing me off. My head was splitting just thinking about what she might have been doing all day.

It had somehow become my habit to stalk her in silence.

And then... I saw her.

She walked in through the hotel doors, in her school uniform, as her backpack was still on her back.

My heart skipped, then it picked up speed.

I had not seen her in a school uniform before!

Fuck!

Why didn’t they send me this picture of hers?

I was about to go to her.

I needed to talk to her, to see her up close and feel her scent.

But I lost to Joseph.

That cheeky bastard walked right up and started talking to her like they were old friends.

And then... he even helped her book a room?

Why the hell was she here?

Why was she staying at a hotel, when she had a damn mansion to live in?

Had Asher not kept his promise? Was she thrown out again after being bullied?

I clenched my jaw, trying not to explode as I took a step forward, just to hear her say something that made my blood run cold.

She told Joseph... she was here with her boyfriend.

...Boyfriend?

What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

Since when?

Since when did she have a boyfriend, and why didn’t I know?

My heart shattered for a moment, but I didn’t care about that.

What burned more was the rage. The thought of her meeting some guy at night in a hotel.

Was that what she thought love looked like? Was that how low she thought of herself? Or someone had tricked her into coming here?

Yes, that might be the case.

But I didn’t know and I was going to find out.

Right fucking now.

"Who did you say you’re going to see?" I asked coldly as she turned to look at me.

Just like Joseph, who ran away like a scared cat with a pale face, she too froze like she’d just seen a ghost.

Her eyes widened. "Wh... What are you doing here?" she stammered, stepping back, as panic flashed across her face.

"Why?" I raised a brow, jaw clenched. I was barely holding in my anger. "If you can come here to meet your so-called boyfriend, then why the hell can’t I?"

Her mouth opened and then closed. Like she didn’t know what to say. "I... Well... I’m young and there are so many handsome men around me..." She gave a weak smile, trying to act all cool. "Can’t I fool around a little?"

"What?"

That was it.

The anger I’d been controlling was boiling over. My hands curled into fists at my sides. I could feel the heat crawling up my neck.

"Seems like you really are into handsome men," I muttered through clenched teeth, grabbing her backpack and yanking her toward me.

She stumbled a little, eyes wide. "Wh... What are you doing?" she snapped, trying to glare at me with those damn puppy eyes.

Even her glares were cute. So damn cute it made my blood stir.

For a second, all I wanted was to shove her against the nearest pillar and kiss her until her legs gave out—until she forgot every other man’s name but mine.

Fuck. What the hell was wrong with me?

How did I go from fury to this?

What kind of cheap bastard thinks like that?

But that’s the effect you have on me, little girl.

You mess me up without even trying.

"Introduce him to me," I inhaled deeply and let go of her.

I heard somewhere that you couldn’t win a child in their rebel phase by using force.