Rain poured down in sheets as Selena stepped into the center of the family council chamber.
"Mira belongs to the Winslow family, and she betrayed Lucien five years ago, now she's even colluding with outsiders and sneaking into the estate. Leaving her alive for one more day is like planting a ticking bomb in the heart of this family!"
The elders fell silent for a long while.
Someone objected, "If Lucien finds out about this, he'll never agree to it."
Selena curled her lips into a cold smile, "Kill her first, and if Lucien asks, we'll say she jumped into the sea out of guilt."
The order was issued quickly behind Lucien's back.
Selena had Mira seized and taken out to open water.
When Mira stood on the deck once again and felt chains wrap around her ankles, she let out a soft laugh and said, "This time too, was it Lucien's order?"
Selena looked down at her and said, "He said it himself, a traitor like you is better off dead."
Mira said nothing.
She remembered eight years ago, when she had been cornered by a rival gang in an abandoned warehouse during a family operation.
With a blade pressed to her throat, she had been certain she was going to die.
But in the next second, gunfire exploded, and Lucien appeared like a phantom.
Later, when she woke in the hospital, the first person she saw was him waiting at her bedside.
That was when he had said, "From now on, your life belongs to me."
And now, for the second time, Lucien had let others chain her to an anchor and throw her into the sea.
The moment freezing seawater rushed into her nose and mouth, Mira stopped struggling.
Maybe death was better, maybe that would end everything, and everything between her and Lucien could finally be erased with it.
Just as her consciousness was about to fade, a dark figure cut through the water.
It was Lucien.
He dove beneath the surface, pulled her into his arms, tore away the chains, and surfaced with her as fast as he could.
On deck, Selena's face turned deathly ashen as she said, "Lucien, how could you..."
Lucien ignored her, laid Mira flat on the deck, forced open her clenched jaw, and bent down to give her air.
Warm breath rushed into her lungs, and Mira coughed violently before slowly opening her eyes.
The first thing she saw was Lucien's drenched face, his eyes churning with emotions she could not understand: pain, fury, fear, and a trace of something that looked like heartache.
Mira stared blankly ahead and murmured softly, "I don't want to die again... the sea is so dark, I don't want to be thrown in there again..."
Lucien's pupils shrank sharply. What did she mean by die again?
But before he could ask, Mira lost consciousness.
Lucien scooped her into his arms and barked at the guards, "Everyone involved in this tonight will be severely punished."
Back at the estate, Mira lay on the soft bed staring at the ceiling, her body mostly unharmed, but her heart felt as though it had been crushed over and over again.
The next morning, the butler brought in breakfast, hesitated for a moment, and said quietly, "Miss Hawthorne was released last night, Mr. Yates said she has stayed by his side for ten years. So this time he's letting it go."
Mira's hand shook, and the coffee cup slipped to the floor, shattering into pieces.
Letting it go?
Mira lowered her eyes, hiding the storm inside them, and said, "Alright, I understand."
She suddenly remembered one birthday when she had casually mentioned wanting a strawberry cake from Escye, and Lucien had immediately sent a private jet for it, then brought it to her bedside himself at three in the morning.
She had laughed and called him ridiculous, but he had answered with complete seriousness, "If you want it, I'd even bring down the stars for you."
Back then, she had believed him.
But now, when it came to the person who wanted her dead, he let it go.
Liar.
Lucien was a liar.
Mira leaned against the window and cried without a sound. From beginning to end, she had been the only one who ever gave her heart.
The next day, the family convened an emergency council meeting.
Someone still insisted, "Lucien, Mira must die, she's a ticking bomb."
Others quickly agreed, "Selena is right, deal with her now before she causes bigger trouble later."
"Anyone who brings up killing her again," Lucien said, his gaze sweeping across the room, his voice calm yet soaked in bloodshed, "I'll kill them instead."
The entire room erupted in shock.
Standing in the corner, Selena dug her nails into her palm so hard they nearly drew blood.
For the sake of a traitor, Lucien had threatened the entire family.
In that moment, Selena finally understood that no matter what Mira had done—betrayal, escape, any of it—Lucien's heart had never truly left her.
Selena had lost completely, and as she turned away, she sent a message to one of the Yates Group's deadliest rivals.
"I have the security layout of Lucien's private estate, let's make a deal."
