Chapter 145 Between Her and Me

Chapter 145 Between Her and Me
Selene’s POV

Before I could decide whether meeting Lucian again was truly fate or merely an impossible coincidence, he removed his suit jacket and gently placed it around my shoulders.

The warmth still trapped in the fabric wrapped around me almost immediately, shielding me from the cool evening air. For a moment, I simply stood there beneath the umbrella and looked at him. Lucian had already shifted most of the umbrella toward me, leaving part of his own shoulder exposed to the light drizzle, and now he had given me his jacket as well.

He seemed to do these things so naturally that they affected me before I could prepare myself.

“Why are you standing here alone at the entrance of an amusement park?” he asked.

His voice had lost the teasing note from earlier. Instead, there was quiet curiosity in his eyes as he followed my gaze toward the bright entrance behind me.

I pulled the jacket a little tighter around myself.

“I was thinking about my parents.”

Lucian’s expression changed.

“Your parents?” he asked gently. “Are they in Firstband?”

I shook my head.

“No. They died a long time ago.”

For once, Lucian did not immediately respond with some clever remark. Regret flickered across his face, followed by a softness I rarely saw in him.

“I’m sorry.”

I gave him a faint smile.

“It happened when I was very young.”

The lights from the amusement park glowed behind us, filling the wet street with different colors. Children hurried past us with their parents, holding balloons and snacks while their laughter drifted through the gate. Watching them made that strange emptiness inside me return.

“I don’t even remember what my parents looked like,” I admitted quietly.

Lucian watched me without interrupting.

“Alaric told me they died in an accident when I was little. I know they existed because he told me about them, but when I try to remember their faces, there’s almost nothing there.”

I looked toward the amusement park again.

“Sometimes I get small pieces of memories. A voice. A hand holding mine. Someone laughing. But the harder I try to remember, the faster everything disappears.”

There was no pity in Lucian’s expression, and I was grateful for that. He simply listened.

After a moment, he said, “My father died when I was fifteen.”

I turned toward him.

Lucian’s gaze moved away from mine as if he were looking at something far beyond the glowing amusement park.

“He was still alive long enough for me to remember him clearly,” he continued. “Sometimes that makes losing him easier. Other times, it makes it harder.”

His words carried an emotion he usually hid too well.

For the first time, I realized that we shared something I had never considered before.

Loss.

Different kinds, perhaps, but loss all the same.

I lowered my eyes.

“I miss them.”

My voice came out much softer than I intended.

It felt strange saying that about two people I could barely remember, but perhaps that was exactly why I missed them so much. I missed the memories I should have had. I missed knowing their faces and voices. I missed having something real to hold on to whenever I thought of them.

Before I could sink deeper into those thoughts, Lucian suddenly reached for my hand.

I looked down at our joined fingers.

“What are you doing?”

Instead of answering, he started walking toward the amusement park entrance.

“Come with me.”

“Lucian?”

He kept moving.

“I’ll take you to see them.”

That made me stop.

“See who?”

He glanced back at me.

“Your parents.”

I stared at him in complete confusion.

“My parents are dead.”

“I know.”

“Then where exactly are you taking me?”

He gave me the smallest hint of a smile.

“You’ll see.”

I should have refused.

Instead, curiosity won.

The drizzle gradually softened as we passed through the entrance. By the time we reached the brighter part of the park, the rain had stopped completely, leaving the pavement shining beneath the colorful lights.

Lucian continued leading me deeper inside until a huge Ferris wheel came into view.

I slowed immediately.

The massive wheel rose high above the park, its glowing cabins slowly circling against the dark night sky.

Lucian stopped beside it.

I stared upward, and my stomach tightened.

“You can’t be serious.”

He looked at me.

“What?”

“I told you yesterday that I’m afraid of heights.”

“I remember.”

“Then why are we standing beside a Ferris wheel?”

He seemed far too calm.

“Because we’re going up.”

I immediately pulled my hand back.

“No.”

Lucian’s lips twitched.

“Selene.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

I looked upward again and felt my courage disappearing with every cabin that reached the top.

“I am not getting on that thing.”

“You survived a warehouse explosion.”

“That has nothing to do with this.”

“You fought several werewolves in a bar.”

“Still unrelated.”

“You walked into a factory knowing someone might be trying to sabotage Moonveil Group.”

“That was work.”

“And a Ferris wheel scares you?”

I narrowed my eyes.

“Yes.”

He looked far too amused by my answer.

I stepped backward.

“I’m leaving.”

I had barely turned when Lucian caught me.

A surprised gasp escaped my lips as one arm slipped behind my back and the other beneath my knees. Before I understood what he was doing, he lifted me completely off the ground.

“Lucian!”

Several people nearby glanced toward us.

“What are you doing? Put me down.”

“Not until you stop trying to run.”

“This is kidnapping.”

“It’s a Ferris wheel.”

“That doesn’t make it better.”

His chest moved with a quiet laugh as he carried me toward the entrance.

I wanted to struggle, but doing that while he was carrying me would only attract more attention. With no better choice, I wrapped one arm around his shoulder and glared at him.

“You’re impossible.”

“I’ve heard that before.”

The attendant opened the cabin for us, and Lucian carried me inside before finally setting me down.

The door closed.

My eyes immediately went to the ground outside.

The cabin started moving.

“Lucian.”

“I’m here.”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

His confidence annoyed me enough to temporarily distract me from the fact that the ground was slowly dropping farther away beneath us.

I shifted closer to the center of the cabin.

Lucian sat opposite me at first, watching my expression. When he saw how tightly I had gripped the seat, some of his amusement faded.

“You really are afraid.”

“I told you that.”

He moved to sit beside me.

“Then don’t look down.”

“That’s very helpful.”

“Look at me instead.”

I turned toward him.

Lucian held out his hand.

After a brief hesitation, I placed mine in his.

His fingers closed around mine, warm and steady.

“Better?”

I refused to give him the satisfaction of admitting it.

“A little.”

The Ferris wheel continued climbing.

Outside the window, Phoshire spread beneath us in a sea of glowing lights. The roads looked like ribbons of gold, and the amusement park below became smaller with every passing second.

Despite my fear, the view was beautiful.

Lucian noticed my attention drifting toward the window.

“See?”

“See what?”

“You’re still alive.”

“For now.”

He smiled.

Then he lifted one hand and pointed beyond the window.

“Look up.”

I followed his finger.

The clouds had begun to separate after the rain, revealing patches of dark sky. Among countless tiny stars, two seemed brighter than all the others.

Lucian pointed toward them.

“Do you see those two?”

I nodded.

“They’re your parents.”

I turned toward him.

He kept his gaze on the stars.

“They didn’t really leave you, Selene. Maybe you can’t remember their faces, but that doesn’t mean everything they gave you disappeared.”

My throat tightened unexpectedly.

Lucian continued, his voice gentle.

“Think of them as those stars. You may not be able to reach them, but they’re still there. Watching you. Protecting you in whatever way they can.”

I knew it was nothing more than comfort.

Lucian had no way of knowing where my parents were or whether they could somehow see me.

But the thought still settled warmly inside my chest.

I looked back at the stars.

“Do you really think so?”

“I do.”

A small smile touched my lips.

“Then I suppose I should thank you for forcing me onto this terrifying machine.”

“You’re welcome.”

I gave him a look.

His smile widened.

As the Ferris wheel continued climbing, something strange happened.

My fear slowly faded.

The higher we went, the more peaceful everything became. The noise of the amusement park below grew distant, and the cabin seemed separated from the rest of the world.

For a few quiet moments, I forgot the danger we had faced in Fostrau.

I forgot Moonveil Group.

I forgot the explosion.

I even forgot that I was supposed to be afraid.

I simply watched the stars.

Was this the closest I could ever come to my parents?

The thought brought an ache to my chest, but it was no longer as painful as before.

I felt Lucian looking at me and turned.

Our faces were much closer than I expected.

The small cabin suddenly seemed even smaller.

Lucian’s sharp features were softened by the dim light shining through the window. His dark eyes held mine, and the quiet intensity in them made my breath catch.

I could hear him breathing.

Worse, I could hear my own heartbeat.

I quickly looked toward the window.

The Ferris wheel reached its highest point.

The city stretched beneath us while the two bright stars remained above.

Then warmth suddenly touched my cheek.

I froze.

Lucian had leaned forward and kissed me.

Not on the lips.

Just a soft kiss against my cheek.

But the effect was ridiculous.

Heat spread instantly from the spot he had touched, rushing through my face and down my neck. My fingers tightened around his hand before I even realized I was still holding it.

I turned toward him in disbelief.

“Lucian…”

His expression was calm, but a faint, charming smile rested on his lips.

“Do you know something?”

I stared at him.

“What?”

“They say the top of a Ferris wheel is the closest place to happiness.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Who says that?”

He ignored my question.

“And they also say that if two people kiss when they reach the very top, they’ll never be separated.”

I stared at him.

Then I remembered the ridiculous book he had accidentally mentioned yesterday.

“Did your book tell you that too?”

A flicker of embarrassment crossed his face so quickly that I nearly laughed.

“That’s not important.”

“It definitely did.”

“Selene.”

I finally smiled.

He tightened his fingers gently around mine.

“Just like us right now.”

The teasing left his voice, replaced by something deeper.

My smile slowly faded.

For some reason, the words no longer sounded like a joke.

I lowered my gaze.

“We’re not lovers.”

Lucian did not pull away.

“Not yet.”

I looked at him again.

His expression was completely serious.

“I told you I’ll wait for your answer.”

His thumb brushed lightly over the back of my hand.

“Just don’t make me wait too long.”

My heart pounded so hard that it seemed determined to expose everything I was trying to hide.

Lucian made it increasingly difficult to remember why I had built walls between us in the first place.

He had protected me.

Supported me.

Trusted me.

He had risked his life without hesitation when the warehouse exploded.

And now he was sitting beside me beneath a sky full of stars, doing everything possible to convince me that what existed between us could become real.

For one brief moment, I wanted to believe him completely.

Then another name appeared in my mind.

Teressa.

The warmth inside me weakened.

I closed my eyes and took a slow breath.

No matter how beautiful this moment felt, I could not keep avoiding the question that had followed me from the beginning.

If I allowed myself to love Lucian, I needed to know whether there was truly room for me in his heart.

Not as a substitute.

Not as a woman who happened to resemble someone he once loved.

Me.

Selene.

When I opened my eyes again, Lucian was still watching me.

I tightened my fingers slightly around his hand.

“Lucian, I want to ask you something.”

The change in my tone made his expression grow more serious.

“Ask.”

I hesitated.

I already knew this question could destroy the softness of the moment. Perhaps it was unfair to bring another woman into something that had felt so peaceful only seconds earlier.

But if I did not ask now, the doubt would continue eating at me.

“If Teressa came back one day…”

Lucian became very still.

I forced myself to continue.

“If she suddenly returned and you had to choose between her and me, who would you choose?”

The question hung between us.

I watched his face carefully, waiting for an answer while an uncomfortable fear tightened around my heart.

I knew I had probably ruined the moment.

But I could not help it.

Teressa’s shadow had been standing between us from the beginning, no matter how much I tried to ignore her.

Lucian had once cared for her deeply.

And that left me with one fear I could never silence.

What if I was nothing more than her replacement?