Chapter 164 You've Always Had Me in Your Heart

Chapter 164 You've Always Had Me in Your Heart
"When did you set the password?"
Lia's eyes darted around.
Lukas cupped her face. "When?"
She pressed her lips together as a tingling sensation spread across them.
"It was just..."
"Give me your phone."
“What for?”
She immediately covered her coat pocket, clutching the phone tightly through the fabric.
"There are only a few contacts in there. What would you need it for?"
In a few swift motions, Lukas pried her hands away and took the phone.
He lifted his eyes and glanced at her.
He tried to unlock it with his birthday.
His fingertips barely touched the screen before it unlocked.
Lia's breath caught in her throat as she pressed her back flat against the wardrobe.
"Um, it's just a coincidence."
"Should I check your computer again?"
Lia blurted out, "The password was your birthday...”
The smile on Lukas' face grew wider.
All these years, no woman had ever truly captured his attention.
She had already taken residence in his heart in his youth.
Beyond her, there was no room for anyone else.
Learning that the woman he cherished and doted on also loved him made his heartbeat grow erratic.
“What's the story between you and Jan?”
"Huh?" One second he was questioning her, and now he was suddenly shifting the topic to someone else.
"Lukas, that's all in the past. Why bring it up now?"
She threw herself into his arms and nestled against him. Tilting her head up with her chin lightly resting on his chest, she said, "Didn't I tell you? You're the only one in my heart."
Lukas' eyes darkened abruptly.
He suddenly lifted her up, spun around, and they both fell onto the nearby pink, plush, European-style sofa.
Lia nearly tumbled off the edge.
Lukas held her steady, tightening his arms to pull her closer.
The world spun before her eyes. When her vision steadied and she opened her eyes again, she didn’t know how she’d ended up lying on top of him.
“Tell me.”
Lia felt something stuck in her throat; her voice was tinged with guilt. "What do you want me to say? He's just an unimportant ex-boyfriend."
"Unimportant?"
Lukas' hands, gripping her waist, tightened instantly.
"Then why you cause all this trouble just to argue with me? Why would you hurt me over and over again for him? Why would you have eloped with him right before our wedding?”
With each harsh accusation, Lia felt guilty.
Her eyelashes fell unnaturally.
“Then..what do you want me to say?”
“Tell me every single detail clearly. Include how you defied me to be with him back then, saying you'd never see me again until death." “
Lukas clenched his jaw and his voice grew taut. "You were only sixteen back then!"
Lia's heart trembled.
Sixteen.
For sixteen years, Lukas had been the man who loved and cherished her the most, second only to Ludwig and Theodor.
Yet, at sixteen, she had fallen in love.
Lia found herself momentarily speechless.
"Do you remember what happened that year?"
Lukas frowned. "What happened?"
Lia bit her lip and stared at him for a moment before suddenly turning her head away.
Lukas cupped her face and grabbed her hand, catching the tears welling in her eyes.
"Trying to wipe them away so I won't see?"
She didn't speak.
Lukas' voice tightened. "Who hurt you?"
Lia lowered her eyes. After a few tears fell, her throat tightened and her voice came out hoarse as if she had been crying. "Do you know? I always liked you when I was little."
Lukas was taken aback.
"You always cared for me. Even though you never let me follow you, whenever you realized I hadn't caught up, you'd stop and wait for me. When I was bullied, you protected me. When the Müller servants disrespected me, you reprimanded and fired them. You even picked out the dishes I disliked and saved all my favorites just for me, never sharing them with anyone else.”
After growing up, Lia never mentioned these past memories.
Lukas had always been in her heart. In both her past and present lives, he was the man she had loved for two lifetimes.
It was only later, with so many people sowing discord, that she gradually made mistakes and drifted apart from him.
Then came the deaths of Ludwig and Theodor, both framed by Jan and others for Lukas.
Under such circumstances, even if love existed, it had been replaced by hatred.
Lukas could never have imagined that the little girl who used to follow him around when they were young could have harbored such feelings for him.
Immediately after, however, a wave of joy surged through his heart.
He gripped her hand a little tighter than intended without noticing.
"You say I've always been in your heart?"
Lia let out a soft cry of pain. He instantly released her hand and pulled her into his embrace.
He repeated the question, "Always?"
Lia murmured softly, "Yes."
But Lukas wouldn't let it go.
Lowering his voice, he asked, "Then why did you stop liking me?"
"Lukas, don't you remember what happened when I was sixteen?"
"You fell in love."
So that was all he remembered.
"Your grandfather arranged a marriage for you. Don't you remember?"
Lukas fell silent for a moment. "No."
Lia was surprised.
She pressed her fist against his chest and hummed softly. "I remember it clearly. That year, you were twenty-seven. Your grandfather arranged a fiancée for you. You even met each other's parents."
As she spoke, Lia fixed her gaze on Lukas, afraid to miss a single flicker of expression.
Lukas' brow furrowed slightly before he suddenly let out a soft chuckle. "Seems like that really did happen."
“You admit it!”
"I'm not admitting it. How did you decide that woman was my fiancée?"
He actually laughed!
Lia could see the hint of amusement in his eyes.
What did that mean? Was he mocking her?
Angrily, Lia punched his chest. "Are you making fun of me?"
"No."
Lukas let her hit him. "She was just an unimportant person. I had no reason to remember her. It's only been four years."
"I don't care! You had a fiancée back then! You went on dates together, ate together, and...”
"Hold on."
Before she could continue her tirade, Lukas cut her off decisively. "I did have dinner with that woman, but I wasn't alone. My grandfather was there, and so was her father. How can you assume it was a date?"
"Because she sent me photos. From the angle, it was clearly just the two of you..."
Lia froze abruptly, jerking her head up to stare at his face. “Oh, you still want to deny it? You just confirmed that you've already met each other's parents!"
"I was forced to go. I didn't know it was an arranged meeting beforehand."
What he didn't know was that, during that dinner, the woman had already fallen for him.
When she saw that she wasn't getting through to him, she took a hard line, finding Lia and declaring her claim in front of her.
"She came to me and showed me photos of the two of you dining together and photos of the two of you in bed—naked under the covers!"
"Impossible."
Lukas denied it outright. "If I'd slept with her, you wouldn't be here with me now."
Lia froze for a moment before processing his words.