Chapter 174
Mrs. Lin didn’t hesitate. She hurried down the stairs, the soft fabric of her robe trailing behind her.
The second she reached Serena, she pulled her close, arms wrapping around her daughter’s trembling frame.
Serena didn’t even try to hold back this time. She buried her face against her mother’s shoulder, sobbing soundlessly as Mrs. Lin stroked her hair and murmured something gentle that she couldn’t quite hear.
It was the kind of comfort she hadn’t known she still needed, simple, human, safe.
After what felt like forever, Mrs. Lin pulled back slightly, holding Serena by the shoulders, her gaze searching her face.
“Tell me what happened, sweetheart. Who hurt you this time?”
Serena shook her head, her voice barely there. “I don’t… I don’t even know where to start.”
“Start anywhere,” Mrs. Lin whispered. “I’ll listen.”
Serena closed her eyes, and Ethan’s voice came rushing back, Lucien was at the center of it all… He knew what happened to Meilin.
Her stomach turned. “He lied to me, Mom.”
Mrs. Lin's expression darkened, her thumb brushing Serena’s cheek. “Lucien?”
Serena nodded, her throat closing up. “He...” Her voice broke. “He knew about Meilin. All this time. He knew what happened to her, and he looked me in the eye and told me he didn’t even remember the name.”
The words tumbled out faster now, her pain unraveling with each breath. “He played innocent, acted like I was talking about some stranger. But Ethan, Ethan told me there was a meeting, a cover up, that Meilin and Lucien were both caught in it. That his father knew. That Lucien...”
Her voice faltered as she gripped the edge of her mother’s robe, trembling. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
Mrs. Lin didn’t answer immediately. She just held Serena closer, her lips pressed to her hair. The silence stretched between them, only the sound of Serena’s unsteady breathing filling the room.
After a long moment, Mrs. Lin said quietly, “People like Lucien… they grow up surrounded by secrets. And sometimes, they bury things so deep they start believing their own lies.”
Serena pulled back slightly, her eyes wide and shimmering. “But he swore he would never hurt me. Not like Ethan did. Not like Lila did. He said I was safe with him. That he was different.”
Mrs. Lin's gaze softened, though her own voice wavered. “And maybe he wanted to be. But love doesn’t erase what someone’s capable of, darling. It only delays the moment you have to face it.”
That made Serena crumble all over again.
She sank down onto the couch, her legs giving out, her hands covering her face. “I can’t keep doing this. First Ethan, then Lila… and now Lucien. It’s like every time I start to breathe again, someone pulls the ground out from under me.”
Her mother knelt beside her, gathering her into her arms once more. “You’ve been strong for too long,” Mrs. Lin whispered. “You don’t have to be right now. Just rest.”
Serena leaned into her, the tears coming freely again.
She remembered Meilin’s laugh, the way it used to fill their dorm room. The way she’d hold Serena’s hand whenever she was anxious before a presentation. How protective she’d been, like an older sister even though they were the same age.
And then one day, Meilin was just… gone.
No warning. No explanation. Only whispers, that she’d been involved in something she shouldn’t have, that she’d disappeared because of someone powerful.
Now Ethan’s voice echoed in her head like poison. Lucien was at the center of it all.
Serena’s body shook. She wanted to scream. She wanted to deny it. But the way Lucien had frozen when she’d said Meilin’s name that one time… the flicker in his eyes he’d tried to hide… it all made sense now.
Her chest constricted, the betrayal burning like acid beneath her ribs.
“Mom,” she whispered, voice hoarse, “what if everything between us was built on lies?”
Mrs. Lin smoothed back her hair, her eyes glistening. “Then, my darling, you have to decide if the truth is worth the ruin. Sometimes love isn’t about staying, it’s about surviving.”
Serena’s tears quieted, but her breathing stayed uneven. She rested her head against her mother’s lap, staring blankly at the pattern of the rug beneath them.
“I thought I’d finally found peace,” she murmured. “I thought he was home.”
Mrs. Lin's fingers trembled as they brushed Serena’s temple. “Maybe he still is. But right now, you need to protect your heart before you let anyone near it again, even him.”
The clock ticked softly in the silence that followed. Outside, thunder rumbled faintly across the sky, as if the night itself grieved with her.
Serena closed her eyes, and for the first time in a long time, she let herself break completely, because this pain wasn’t just about losing trust. It was about realizing that even love, when built on secrets, could destroy her just the same.
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The night had gone still by the time Lucien reached the Zhao penthouse.
His car screeched to a halt in front of the towering glass building, the kind of place that screamed old money and inherited arrogance.
He barely waited for the valet to approach before stepping out, his coat sweeping behind him, eyes dark with a fury that no one dared to meet.
Every step he took toward the elevator felt heavier than the last. He’d replayed Serena’s face in his mind a hundred times since she’d walked away, the disbelief in her eyes, the quiet betrayal trembling in her voice.
He couldn’t get it out of his head.
And he knew why.
Ethan Zhao.
That bastard had dragged Meilin’s name, his past, back into the light just to tear Serena away from him.
The elevator doors opened with a soft chime. Lucien stepped out onto the top floor, his jaw clenched tight. The penthouse door loomed at the end of the hall, polished and pristine, hiding the rot behind it.
He didn’t bother knocking.
He slammed the door open with a force that made the hinges rattle.
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