Chapter 26 The Phone Call
Lucian’s POV
The phone in my hand felt like a block of ice, a clear difference to the warmth of the evening and the woman lying beside me. The caller ID flashed a number I should have deleted, but kept for the same reason one keeps a venomous snake in a locked cage: to always know where the threat is.
Michael.
The name left a foul taste in my mouth. I answered the call with the cold, professional tone I reserved for hostile takeovers and corporate espionage. "This is Lucian Smithfield, CEO of Smithfield Corporation. Who am I talking to?"
The voice on the other end was a slithering, smug thing. "Mr. Lucian. Or should I call you big boss? I just saw the lovely pictures of your beach date. Very touching. It got me thinking… Does the great Lucian Smithfield know who he's really married to? Sonia might not have told you this, but our marriage was real. It wasn't a professional strategy. I know all of her little secrets. Every scar, every tear. I could tell you stories that would make you know she's a cheap slut–”
The sea breeze that once felt cool against my skin suddenly turned cold, biting through my composure. The sound of the waves faded into a low, distant hum as Michael spoke.
Just hearing his voice made my grip tighten around the phone. But the fact that he dared to call me to report Sonia was disgusting, and my eyes turned red. I rose from the sand slowly, brushing off grains from my shirt, but my chest burned with restrained anger. My gaze flicked to Sonia, who was pushing herself up, her eyes wide with alarm. The sight of her, so open and vulnerable after an afternoon where I'd seen her truly smile for the first time, fueled a rage so pure it was almost calming.
I didn't want to reply violently in front of her, so I controlled myself and walked away from the warm sand toward the darker side of the beach.
“What do you want? What are you playing at?” I asked flatly, painfully trying to be the perfect CEO everyone looked up to.
Michael’s tone was calm, but filled with mischief. “I’m not playing around, Mr. Lucian. After all, you're my boss. I have tried to call Sonia multiple times, but it seems she has blocked me, so I'm calling you to strike a deal with you.”
I could almost see his grin through the phone. Every word from him dripped with satisfaction, he lived for this, to dig his nails into other people’s peace.
“I don’t have time for your games. Also, stop calling my wife, like you said, I'm the boss and I control the chess,” I replied with a grimace.
“Oh, but I think you don't understand, sir,” Michael murmured. “After all, you’ve been busy playing house with my fiancée. Cute, really. The beach? The photographers? You two look perfect together. It almost makes me forget how fake it all is. I know the truth, you can't make me doubt my sanity. My only question is, why are you doing this? Is Sonia's pussy that sweet?”
My jaw clenched. This bastard was fixed on ruining my mood.
“Did you call me to spit nonsense, or is there another reason you’re wasting my time? Sonia told me about what happened between you two, none of it was real, it was just child's play. You have Georgia now, what more do you want?” I asked sharply.
There was a pause, the sound of him sipping something…..coffee, whiskey, didn’t matter. Then he said quietly, “You think you can parade her around and humiliate me? You forget who taught her how to lie that well. You might own her for now, boss, but I owned her heart once. And she's still my fiancée, whether you both want it or not.”
That last sentence struck something in me, an emotion I didn’t like admitting even existed. Jealousy. The raw, ugly kind.
I took a slow breath. “Whatever you had with Sonia is dead, Michael. You ruined it yourself.”
Michael laughed again, low and humorless. “Oh, Mr. Lucian… you sound jealous. That’s adorable. Tell me, does she still shiver when someone touches her neck? Does she still pretend she’s strong when she’s terrified? Because if she does, then I taught her well.”
“Enough!” My voice came out sharp as glass. I didn’t shout, but the weight of my tone silenced even him for a second.
He recovered quickly. “Touchy topic. I’ll let you get back to your date, then. Just remember, boss, no matter how many headlines say she’s yours, she’ll always remember what it felt like to be mine.” He paused. “If you're ready to face your fear and know the truth about her family, you know where to find me.”
The call ended.
I stood there, the screen glowing in my hand, my heart pounding like I’d been in a fight. I stared at the dark horizon, trying to wrest away the anger clawing up my chest.
I hated him. Not just because he’d once had Sonia, but because he enjoyed reminding me of it. Because he knew how to get under my skin, and I let him. Also, the thought of him exposing my plan to the whole world made me feel like silencing him forever.
When I turned around, Sonia was standing behind me. Her face was a blend of worry and confusion, her hair slightly messy from the wind. She looked too delicate for the world we lived in, too honest for all this manipulation.
“Was that Michael?” she asked softly.
I hesitated. Lying to her would have been easy. But something about the way she looked at me made me choose differently. “Yes.”
Her lips tightened. “What did he say?”
“Nothing important. He's just greeting.”
It wasn’t the truth, but it was the best version of it.
She stepped closer to me. “You look angry. He said something, didn’t he?”
I turned my gaze away, staring out at the water. “He’s just doing what he does best, trying to poison things he can’t control. But don't worry, I'm in charge here.”
Sonia didn’t press further. She just stood beside me, silent, the ocean reflecting in her eyes.
After a long pause, I spoke again, my voice low and emotional. “You shouldn’t let him get to you either. He’s the kind of man who feeds on reactions.”
She nodded quietly, but her expression was troubled. “It’s hard not to when the past keeps following me. I'm scared of how people will react when they find out I kinda cheated on him.”
“What?”
I wanted to say something. Something to make her believe she was free from him now and that she didn't do anything wrong, but I didn’t know how. Comfort wasn’t something I was built for. Power, control, survival, yes. Not tenderness.
And yet, I found myself saying, “He’s nothing compared to what you’ve become, Sonia. Don’t let him drag you back into who you were. You never cheated on him, because you were never his to begin with.”
She looked up at me, startled. Her lips parted as if to respond, but instead, she smiled faintly. “You’re… surprisingly kind tonight.”
“I’m realistic,” I corrected, turning my face to the other side. Trying to act cold and indifferent.
We stood there for a while, listening to the sea. The paparazzi were long gone, and for once, the night felt almost peaceful. Sonia’s laughter from earlier still echoed in my mind, the way she smiled when she saw the waves, the way she looked when she forgot we were pretending.
The truth was, I had enjoyed the date more than I should have. Watching her smile, hearing her laugh, it had done something strange to me. Something dangerous.
Because somewhere between the fake hugs and smiles, I had started wanting it to be real.
I exhaled sharply, trying to bury that thought. This marriage wasn’t real. It was an agreement, a strategy to protect us both. Nothing more. I already had someone I loved, and my mind was still with finding her.
But when Sonia brushed a stray grain of sand off my sleeve and smiled up at me, I realized something terrifying.
For the first time in years, I didn’t feel like the man in control.
She did.
And I wasn’t sure if I hated that… or craved more of it.
“Come on,” I said quietly, forcing myself back into composure. “We should go home. It’s getting late.”
Sonia nodded, her eyes lingering on me a second longer than they should have. As we walked back to the car, her hand brushed mine, not deliberately, just a fleeting touch. But it was enough to make my heart stutter for a beat.
I didn’t take her hand again. I couldn’t. Not when every rule we’d made was already starting to break inside my head.
“By the way, are we still sleeping here or going back to the mansion?” Sonia asked innocently, and I froze.
“How do I sleep in the same house with her when I was already hard just thinking about her?”