Chapter 240

Chapter 240
Julian pressed his forehead to hers. “I know, Serena. I should have told you. I just… I wanted her to be stable first. I didn’t want to drag you into more pain until I was sure she could survive it.”

Serena’s tears spilled over.

But she wasn’t angry.

She wasn’t furious or betrayed or wounded the way Lucien feared.

She was shaking with relief.

“Thank you,” she whispered against his collar. “Thank you. I asked you so many times to find her. I thought… I thought after everything, maybe you wouldn’t care. Maybe you’d dismiss it. But you...”

Her voice faltered.

Lucien tightened his hold.

“It started because of me,” he said, guilt heavy. “All of it. What she suffered. What you suffered. I owed her my life, and I owed you the truth. I’m sorry it took me time.”

Serena pulled back, cupping his face with wet palms.

“Lucien… you found her.”

Her smile, broken, trembling, radiant, nearly shattered him.

“You found her,” she whispered again, brushing tears from her cheeks. “She’s alive. She’s getting better. That’s all that matters. I’ll forgive the hiding. I’ll forgive the secrecy. You brought Meilin back.”

Lucien swallowed the emotion rising in his own throat.

Serena wrapped her arms around his waist, her cheek pressed against his chest, heart pounding with overwhelming joy.

For the first time in years…

Hope returned.

Real, tangible hope.

And though neither of them knew it... the moment Serena learned the truth was also the moment their enemies took their next step in the shadows.

But for now, Serena held onto one truth, Meilin was alive.

Lucien had kept his promise. And for the first time since her world had shattered, Serena felt whole again.

..........................

Arabelle Weng had always been a woman who floated through life untouched.

Protected.

Pampered.

Obeyed.

People bent for her.

Men worshiped her.

Her father’s empire shielded her from consequences, until Lucien Feng happened.

Now she was pacing her penthouse, barefoot, trembling, hair loose around her shoulders, pearls dangling unevenly because she had yanked them on in a rage.

Her phone lay on the marble a few feet away, vibrating for the tenth time that morning.

Lucien Feng.

Calling again.

Arabelle stared at the screen with a twisted smile.

“So he finally realizes why I’m not answering,” she muttered under her breath. “He finally connects the dots.”

The phone rang.

And rang.

And then went silent.

She exhaled a slow, shaking breath, her chest tight, her nerves a raw wire humming painfully beneath her skin.

Everything was unraveling.

The Meilin situation.

The plan to discredit Serena.

The public humiliation.

The destruction of her social standing.

The quiet implosion of her family’s business, stock prices dipping lower every day because she had been “too busy” to show up and rein in the chaos.

She gripped the back of the couch so hard the stitching indented her palm.

“I had everything planned,” she whispered, voice cracking. “Everything.”

And she did.

She had orchestrated Meilin’s disappearance.

Played the innocent savior.

Promised Adrian a shared future of power.

Promised Ethan’s father she’d support the Zhao empire if he followed her conditions.

Pulled strings, spread rumors, manipulated the media.

And still, still, she lost.

Serena Lin rose from the ashes.

Lucien protected her like she was a throne he’d die defending.

Ethan fell from grace.

Lila turned into a liability.

Adrian became volatile after Lucien’s beating.

And Meilin, Meilin, the key to the entire mess, had escaped.

Now she was alive.

Found.

Protected.

Arabelle felt the snap inside her brain like a glass breaking.

She swept her arm across the coffee table.

Crystal shattered.

Jewelry scattered.

Perfume crashed onto the marble and spilled, filling the room with a suffocating floral scent.

Her maids didn’t come running.

They had learned.

Arabelle sank onto the couch, chest heaving.

Her nails dug into her scalp as she whispered, “I’m losing everything.”

She had cut off every avenue of contact with Lucien, blocked numbers, instructed her father’s secretary to handle all calls, forced her own staff to intercept any messages.

Because she knew why he kept calling.

Meilin.

He wanted answers.

He wanted names.

He wanted to know how she had kept her, how long, who she had paid, what she had done.

If she picked up, if she let him get even one word in, she would lose what little advantage she had left.

She wasn’t scared for her life.

She was scared of becoming irrelevant.

Arabelle Weng lived for power.

Attention.

Control.

And now, every enemy she thought she had buried was resurfacing stronger.

Serena Lin was running the Zhao Group like it belonged to her ancestors.

Lucien Feng looked at Serena like she was the only person on earth.

Ethan was spiraling but still dangerous.

Adrian was becoming more unstable every day.

Arabelle pressed her fingertips to her temples.

“No. No. I refuse to lose.”

She stood abruptly, grabbing her coat.

Her heels clicked sharply against the floor with every frantic step.

She shouted toward the hallway without looking back, “Prepare the car. I need to go out. Now.”

A maid hurried to obey.

Arabelle’s reflection glared back at her in the floor to ceiling mirror.

The pale face.

The wild, furious eyes.

The slight shake in her hands.

She smoothed her hair.

Painted red lipstick with trembling fingers.

Pinned her diamonds.

Every movement was precise.

Practiced.

A mask.

A mask she would weaponize again.

“Laid plans fail,” she whispered to her reflection. “Fine. I’ll make new ones.”

Her voice darkened, low and venomous.

“If Lucien wants Meilin…” Her lips curled. “If Serena thinks she’s untouchable…” Her eyes narrowed. “If Adrian thinks he can lose control at the worst possible moment…”

She exhaled, composure settling over her like a final layer of armor.

“Then they have no idea what I’m capable of.”

She grabbed her purse, stepping out into the hallway with a chilling calm.

Arabelle Weng was done reacting.

She was done hiding.

She was done losing.

Now she was striking.

And this time, she intended to burn everything, including those she once considered allies, until she regained control of her narrative.

Because Arabelle wasn’t finished. Not by a long shot.