Chapter 58 Escape from Temptation

Chapter 58 Escape from Temptation
Chapter 58.

Escape from Temptation

As night falls, Carolina busies herself preparing the living room: candles, jazz music (the same music Lucas uses with Alicia), and a menu he supposedly likes.

While Carolina supervises the final details, Alicia comes down from her room. She is not wearing her work clothes. She is stunningly dressed: a fitted, vibrantly colored evening dress, high heels, and her hair down, radiant. This is not clothes for a night of studying. It is clothes for going out and conquering.

Lucas is in the living room, finishing a call. Upon seeing her, he is taken aback.

“Where are you going?” he asks, his voice loaded with the possessiveness he tries so hard to control.

“I’m going out,” Alicia replies with poisonous sweetness. “You two have plans, don't you? And I don't want to ruin them.”

Carolina, seeing the look of panic and jealousy on Lucas’s face, clenches her jaw. Her plan has exploded in her hands.

“What plans?” Lucas asks, genuinely puzzled, as dinner with Carolina was not on his mind.

“It's not my place to tell you,” Alicia says, smiling, reveling in her little act of revenge. “I wish you both a nice evening.”

She heads for the front door.

“No, Alicia, come back here,” Lucas orders, control vanishing. The idea of her, beautiful and dressed like that, going out into the street, is torture.

Lucas follows Alicia, leaving Carolina in shock amidst the candles and wine. She watches them, noting how Lucas gets into the car with Alicia and speeds away with the engine roaring.

Carolina is left powerless. Not only has Lucas left her for Alicia, but he has abandoned her in the middle of their own romantic dinner, publicly choosing his niece. “This cannot be,” she hisses. “They cannot continue to play with me like this.”

She remains in the living room. Lucas's phone vibrates with Carolina's calls, but Lucas does not return all night. The humiliation turns into a cold, calculating fury.

Meanwhile, for Alicia, it is a hard-won victory; she has demonstrated to Carolina that no matter what, she will always be the one Lucas chooses.

The Constant Game

The next day, they appear at the mansion as if nothing had happened. Alicia is more challenging, her face radiant and her stride determined. She knows her absence has restored the balance of power. Lucas, though exhausted, has the shine of satisfaction.

She doesn't know it, but this will only unleash the hell of Carolina's vengeance.

In the following days, Carolina wraps herself in an unsettling silence, distant from everyone. It is the calm before the storm. Her mind works on the most devastating way to use the photos she has stored.

Meanwhile, Lucas and Alicia consume each other in the apartment, their moments filled with different emotions: unrestrained desire, tender conversations about the future, and silent arguments about the danger of their actions. The month passes in this constant game of intense work, jealousy, confrontations with Carolina, and stolen passions. Alicia's graduation is the deadline for the chaos.

The day of Alicia Jank's graduation finally arrives. Lucas, Arthur, and Carolina are present. Alicia is exultant, wearing her gown. Her commencement speech is a success; her project is praised.

Leaving the auditorium, Lucas is by her side, visibly proud, his hand on the small of her back. It is a familiar and possessive gesture that does not go unnoticed by Carolina.

Just then, a familiar face bursts into the small family circle. It is Alexéi Krylov, standing, holding a small bouquet of red roses, his smile easy and charming. It is a challenge on Lucas's territory.

“Excuse me, Mr. Jank,” Alexéi says, his tone polite, but his eyes fixed on Alicia. “Allow me to give this gift to your niece. It has been an honor to see her presentation. It was brilliant.”

Alexéi steps toward Alicia. Before he can hand her the flowers, Lucas reacts with brutal speed and fury. He snatches the bouquet of roses from Alexéi’s hands; the violence of the gesture causes one of the flowers to fall to the floor.

Lucas steps between Alicia and Alexéi, his face a mask of icy rage, his voice roaring in the silence of the auditorium.

“Who the hell are you, and who gave you the right to give gifts to Alicia?”

The spectacle is complete. Carolina smiles: the fire of Lucas's jealousy, publicly exposed. And Alexéi, the rival, has played his part.

Lucas's roar echoes in the auditorium. The silence, broken only by the murmur of guests and the flashes of phones, makes the scene unbearable.

Alicia reacts immediately, interposing herself in her graduation gown between Lucas and Alexéi. Her mind goes into crisis mode.

“Calm down, please, Lucas,” she says, her voice low and tense. “You're making a scene.”

Lucas ignores her, his eyes fixed on Alexéi, clutching the bouquet like a weapon. “I don't give a damn. By what right does he bring you gifts? You said you had no relationship.”

“I don't, Lucas. It’s just a bouquet of roses!” Alicia pleads, looking over Lucas's shoulder. “Please, calm down, you’re drawing everyone’s attention.”

Lucas looks up. He sees the faces of partners, informal journalists, and students focused on him with disdain. He knows that in a matter of minutes, this will be a public relations disaster.

“Give him back his roses and let’s get out of here,” Lucas demands, roughly handing the bouquet to Alicia.

Alicia takes the flowers, turns to Alexéi, maintaining a professional composure. “I’m sorry, Alexéi. I cannot accept them. I already told you I was in a relationship.” She states seriously.

“Alicia…” Alexéi calls her, his face showing confusion and disappointment, but Alicia ignores him, clinging to Lucas's arm, without looking back.

The Headline Fury

In the car taking them to the mansion, the atmosphere is explosive.

“Calm down, for God's sake,” Alicia says, looking at the passing landscape without seeing it. “It’s not what you think. I don't know how he found me.”

“That idiot thinks he can court my woman!” Lucas hits the steering wheel, his fury uncontrolled.

“Stop!” Alicia explodes, pointing out the real problem. “In front of everyone else, you are not my partner, Lucas. You are my uncle. That’s why many people think I'm open to any suitor. If you behave like the ‘jealous uncle’ in the tabloids, that’s exactly what I am. You have exposed yourself and you have exposed me.”

Just at that moment, Lucas's phone begins to ring incessantly with news alerts.

The journalists explode. The headlines go viral in a matter of minutes. The tabloids have captured everything:

THE JEALOUS UNCLE: Jank Heiress, out of the romance league due to family prohibition.

GRADUATION SCANDAL: Lucas Jank tries to assault his niece's suitor.

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