Chapter Fifty-One

Chapter Fifty-One

~Elias’s Pov~

Late at night, after having dinner with Mira and Isla, I lay on the bed. Lucien’s room just gave me that comfort I had been craving. I missed him so much that it hurt. He didn’t even reach out. I wasn’t annoyed, I just wanted to know if everything was okay with him. 

I sniffed his pillow, his scent waving through my nose. 

“I miss you….Lucien,” I murmured. Pacing around his bed, I contemplated messaging him, holding my phone against my chest tightly. 

Okay, I’m doing this. 

What if he was doing fine? 

What if something had happened to him?

My heart was racing even though his brothers were with him. 

It felt like I was the only one in the whole palace who had no knowledge about what was happening. I didn’t even know where he went to or why. 

I stared at his contact and without thinking twice, I texted him. 

“Hey.”

Seconds after, my phone rang. 

Lucien. 

My eyes widened in happiness. 

Oh, he finally called! 

Was he waiting for me to text? 

I shook my head, not wanting to ruin the moment with my overthinking.

I swept my hair backward and picked up the call, his face flashing on the screen. He looked handsome as always, his dark hair sprouted on his forehead. He looked like he was in an office, his button slightly opened, revealing his chest. 

But—

He wasn’t looking like he was happy to see my face. 

He was looking angry. Furious. Sad. 

“Lucien,” I called out, my voice hoarse and low. 

Without acknowledging me, he spoke, “Put off your shirt.”

Huh?

I blinked. Not understanding a word he just said. 

“Lucien—“

“Let me see you, put off your shirt.”

He wasn’t joking. 

He looked impatient, his forehead furrowed. 

Lumps rose to my throat. Was he horny? Even at that, he could have asked me in a better way. He could have told me he missed me as much as I missed him. 

With that thought, I relaxed. Placed my phone on table near the bed, my fingers fumbling with my buttons. My face was heated up in embarrassment. I was shy all of a sudden. He had seen me so many times so I should just get over it. 

“Hurry up,” he mumbled, his voice not as soft as usual. 

I was confused. 

I took off my shirt, waiting for him to say something. It wasn’t what I was expecting. He kept looking at my chest as if he was searching for something. He pointed his fingers and gestured for me to turn my back. For minutes, I kept turning all around, bringing my neck closer to him. 

God knows I was so much annoyed. 

He was fucking getting on my nerves. 

When I was done, I put on my shirt and say in front of my phone. Waiting for anything. Any words from him. 

Finally, a notification popped on my screen. I clicked on it and it was Lucien who sent me a picture despite him being on call. 

I squinted my eyes and clicked on the image. My mouth slightly opened in shock.

What the hell??

Who else had a phone is this palace? 

“Lucien….” My voice cracked, my eyes staring intensely on the image that captured me and Adrien, the basketball coach. The picture was taken in an angle that made it look like we were almost kissing. His hands were on my arm, holding me tightly. I shook my head, headache forming. 

I took a deep breath, now staring at the angry wolf on my screen. He was waiting for an explanation. His patience was running low. 

“Listen—“

“No, you listen to me, Elias.” He cut me off, his voice hard. “I really can’t believe this.”

He scoffed. 

“Believe what?” I raised my eyebrows.

“You know what I thought when I saw those pictures?   Adrien is fucking you.”

“Lucien!!!” I shouted, my anger rising to my throat. How could he think low of me? I had been in this palace for days thinking about him. Waiting for him. My fingers itching to message him and this was all I could get from him. 

This was the reason he asked me to show my body. It was unbelievable. He thought he would see hickeys or love bite on my body? 

Lucien was a sick man. 

I facepalmed, not knowing what to say. 

His words hit like a slap. 

My blood boiled, rage flaring like an old wound. “How dare you say that to me?”

I couldn’t breathe. I felt my chest heaving, my fists clenching. The room felt smaller all of a sudden. 

“Do you think I’m that easy?” I hissed. “Do you really think I’ve just been lounging around here, jumping into the arms of the first man who touches me while you are gone?”

Lucien didn’t answer. His silence burned more than anything. 

“You asked me to take off my shirt—“ my voice broke, “—because you wanted to check for hickeys? For proof that I cheated on you?”

His expression remained cold, but the flicker in his eyes gave him away. He had. That was exactly why. 

“You—“ I pressed a hand to my forehead, overwhelmed. “You think so little of me?”

He finally spoke, but his voice wasn’t softer. “You let him touch you.”

I laughed bitterly. I was tired. Exhausted. 

“He touched my arm, Lucien! And I didn’t even want him to! I was uncomfortable the entire time! But of course you wouldn’t ask. You wouldn’t even let me explain.”

Lucien leaned back in his chair, the veins in his neck, his breathing heavier now. 

“I’m not stupid, Elias. This isn’t the first time either.”

I blinked. “What the hell are you talking about?”

His gaze sharpened, cutting. “The Soirée. You danced with him in my presence. I saw the way he looked at you. Are you that dumb?”

I was stunned into silence. 

That was a long time ago. 

And he didn’t even say a thing. 

“You think I forgot that?” He added. “You think I didn’t see it?”

I felt like I had been punched in the gut. “We all danced, Lucien. Everyone was watching. I didn’t want to—“

“But you did,” he snapped. 

My voice trembled. “So now you are saying I was asking for it?”

He flinched, but didn’t apologize. “I’m saying you didn’t stop him either.”

Tears prickled at the corners of my eyes. I bit my tongue hard to keep them at bay.

“I’ve been here…waiting for you,” I said quietly, my voice cracking. “I’ve been missing you, aching, not knowing where you were or if you were even okay. And you think I would just do this?”

Lucien’s jaw worked, something unreadable flickering across his face. 

“Who took that photo?” I asked, wiping my eyes quickly. “Who is watching me, Lucien? Are you having me followed?”

He scoffed. “Why shouldn’t I monitor you? You are in my palace.”

I stared at him. “So I’m your prisoner now?”

“You are twisting my words—“

“No,” I interrupted, stepping back from the screen, my hands on my head. “You don’t trust the me. That’s what this is.”

I couldn’t believe I had been wanting to talk to him just to get this. 

This fucking treatment. 

He growled lowly, the screen flickering from the force of it. “It’s not about trust—it’s about knowing men like him. Men who see someone soft like you and think they can take.”

“Well, I’m not yours to possess, Lucien!”

He went completely still. His silence scared me more than anger. 

I should stop talking.

“I—“ I swallowed hard. “I’m not your fucking property.”

I was going to regret this. 

Before he could answer, a knock came on the door. 

I jumped slightly, starlted by the sound. Still holding my phone, I walked to the door cautiously, the fight still heavy in my chest. 

Who was checking on me this hour?

I cracked it open. 

Fuck. 

The hell? 

Adrien stood on the other side, looking far too relaxed, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a clipboard.

“Hey,” he said smoothly. “I came to talk about the training thing. I know you said you would think about it, but—“

“I already told you I would think about it,” I said coldly, cutting him off. 

He raised an eyebrow. I was being too cold, I knew it. But I couldn’t be blamed. 

“No harm in checking in. I could keep you company, if you are not too busy.”

Lucien’s voice boomed from the phone, so loud I jumped. 

“Shut the door, Elias. Now.”

Adrien frowned, peering around me. “Was that—?”

I didn’t let him finish.

“Goodnight, Adrien.” I slammed the door in his face. 

With shaking hands, I sat down on the floor, ohone still in my hand. I didn’t know why I sat there. Maybe because I couldn’t stand anymore. 

Lucien was still on the call, his breathing uneven. “You let him come into your room now?”

Gosh. 

“I didn’t know he was going to,” I whispered. “And I didn’t invite him in.”

He didn’t speak. 

Tears rolled down my cheeks. 

I wiped them angrily, ashamed to let him see. “You think so little of me. I’ve never felt so….small. So insulted.”

His voice softened only slightly, but there was still steel beneath it. “Don’t make this about you. Do you understand what it feels like to see that picture, Elias? To imagine someone else touching you?”

I looked up at him, my vision blurry. “Then you should have asked me.”

He exhaled, shaky. “Maybe I don’t know how to do this right.”

Doesn’t excuse his behavior. 

“You don’t,” I whispered. “But neither do I.”

We both sat in silence, watching each other, hearts pounding, eyes filled with too many unsaid things.

“I’m sorry,” I finally said, but my voice was so small, I wasn’t sure he heard me.

Lucien rubbed his face with one hand. “I just—can’t stand the thought of losing you.”

My throat closed up again.

“You’re not losing me,” I said softly. “But if you keep accusing me, if you keep judging me like this… you will.”

He looked at me then—truly looked at me—and for a second, the anger flickered. For a second, I saw the man who gave me a phone just to talk. The man who left food for my brother. The man who held me like I was something he didn’t want to break.

And then, just like that—
He ended the call.

I stared at the screen as it faded to black, the silence in the room pressing in around me like a suffocating blanket.

I dropped the phone on the floor and pulled my knees to my chest, the tears finally falling freely.

Why did loving him hurt so much?