chapter 24
Elena's POV:
After I'd secured Sebastian's reluctant permission to pursue my perfume work from home, he'd transformed one of the Aurora penthouse's spare rooms into a fully equipped workspace within forty-eight hours.
This morning, I'd finally worked up the courage to ask if I could go out to source some materials myself—there were certain rare ingredients I wanted to examine in person, botanical suppliers I'd worked with before who knew how to select the best specimens.
I'd expected resistance, maybe even outright refusal, but Sebastian had simply studied me for a long moment before nodding and reaching for his jacket.
"I'll come with you," he'd said, in that tone that made it clear this wasn't negotiable.
So we'd spent the morning visiting specialty shops.
Sebastian had trailed behind me with surprising patience as I examined different varieties of rose otto and compared samples of sandalwood, his hand never straying far from the small of my back.
When I'd finally finished my purchases, we came to a French restaurant, the kind of place where even the afternoon light seemed to filter through the windows with cultivated elegance.
The maître d' greeted Sebastian with the kind of deference reserved for regulars or those whose names carried weight, leading us through the dining room toward what was presumably our table.
That's when I felt someone watching me—their stare so intense it made my skin prickle with unmistakable hostility. I stumbled slightly.
I turned my head toward the source of that stare, scanning the elegant room until my eyes landed on a corner table bathed in afternoon light.
Vivienne sat there, looking every inch the polished socialite in something designer and perfectly tailored, her posture rigid with what I recognized as shock.
But it wasn't her presence that made my breath catch in my throat—it was the man seated across from her, leaning forward with concern.
Lucas Ashton.
His eyes—those eyes I remembered wrapped in bandages, vacant and uncertain—were focused and clear now, tracking Vivienne's face with perfect attention. He could see.
After all this time, after months of darkness and uncertainty, Lucas could see again.
A complicated tangle of emotions twisted through my chest.
I remembered how it had started—one of Vivienne's tantrums after I'd accidentally outshone her at some family function, her running to Mother with tears and accusations until I'd been punished with days of missed meals.
It had been old Henry, the Ashton family's kind-hearted butler, who'd found me that day and quietly invited me to the estate for a proper meal.
That's when I discovered Lucas, sitting alone in the sunroom with stillness that came from sudden, terrifying blindness.
After that first visit, I'd found excuses to return—ostensibly to keep him company, but truthfully drawn as much by the elaborate meals the kitchen staff would prepare as by any charitable impulse.
The arrangement had lasted several months, those stolen afternoons of warmth and plenty, until Vivienne had somehow found out.
After that, I'd been forbidden from visiting—Stepmother had made it crystal clear that I was no longer welcome at the Ashton estate, that I'd "imposed enough on their generosity."
And just like that, I'd never even gotten to say goodbye or wish him well.
The memory made shame curl hot in my stomach, even as relief and genuine happiness bloomed alongside it.
Lucas hadn't even glanced in my direction—his attention remained fixed entirely on Vivienne. Vivienne, for her part, sat frozen in her chair, her face pale with unmistakable shock.
She looked like someone who'd just seen a ghost, which I supposed, from her perspective, I might as well have been—the girl who'd vanished a year ago without explanation, suddenly reappearing in a French restaurant on a Tuesday afternoon like nothing had happened.
Seeing that she had no intention of acknowledging me, I let Sebastian guide me the rest of the way to our table as if I hadn't noticed them at all.
But I'd barely settled into my chair when Sebastian's hand closed around my wrist, drawing my attention back to him with the kind of focus that suggested he'd noticed exactly where my gaze had wandered and wasn't particularly thrilled about it.
"Elena, if you keep staring at other men like that," he said, his voice dropping to a pitch only I could hear, intimate and threatening all at once, "I can't guarantee I'll be responsible for what I do next."
I dragged my gaze back to him, noting the tension in his jaw. His possessiveness was flaring again, that familiar storm gathering behind his eyes.
"I wasn't staring at him," I said, which was technically true. "I was surprised to see my stepsister. That's all."
Sebastian's gaze flicked toward their table with the kind of casual assessment. When his eyes returned to mine, one eyebrow lifted slightly. "Would you like to go say hello? I don't mind waiting."
"No." The word came out flat and immediate. I didn't bother trying to soften it this time. "Vivienne and I have never gotten along. I can't stand her, if I'm being honest."
Something shifted in his expression. "Well, if there's anything you'd like me to handle regarding your stepsister, you only need to say the word."
The offer hung in the air between us, loaded with implications I didn't want to examine too closely. I shook my head again, reaching for my water glass to give my hands something to do.
"I'm fine. Really. I'm just hungry."
He gave a small nod and barely lifted his hand—the waiter appeared instantly.
Sebastian ordered without consulting the menu, rattling off a series of dishes in flawless French that I only half understood, but I caught enough to recognize my favorites appearing in the list.
By the time I excused myself to the restroom, my stomach was pleasantly full and some of the tension had eased from my shoulders. The restaurant's powder room was as elegant as the rest of the establishment—all marble and gold fixtures and soft lighting that was meant to be flattering.
I was washing my hands, watching water cascade over my wrists, when the door opened behind me.
I looked up into the mirror and met Vivienne's face in the reflection.