Chapter 152 The Woman He Loves

Chapter 152 The Woman He Loves
Selene’s POV

Was Winnie really trying to challenge me over a plush kitten I had made with my own hands?

I looked at her raised paddle with mild amusement. Twenty million dollars was already a ridiculous amount for the toy, even if it had been handcrafted by Joe, but judging by the stubborn look on Winnie’s face, this had stopped being about charity or the kitten several bids ago. She simply did not want me to have it.

Fine.

If Winnie wanted to waste her money competing with me, I had no reason to stop her. After all, every dollar would go to charity.

Still, I wanted the kitten back.

My fingers closed around my paddle, and I was just about to raise it when a crisp male voice suddenly came from the entrance of the auction hall.

“Thirty million dollars.”

For one brief second, the entire hall seemed to fall silent.

Then an uproar swept through the guests.

Thirty million dollars!

The newcomer had increased Winnie’s bid by ten million dollars in a single offer. Even among the wealthy guests gathered tonight, such a huge jump was enough to attract everyone’s attention. Heads turned toward the entrance, whispers spreading from one table to another as people tried to see who had casually offered such an unbelievable amount for a plush kitten.

I did not need to see him.

I already knew that voice.

My hand froze around the paddle.

A faint frown crossed my face as I slowly turned toward the entrance.

Lucian.

A strange tightness immediately gripped my chest.

He stood beneath the bright lights near the entrance, dressed in a perfectly tailored suit with a dark green tie. His tall figure and calm expression made him stand out effortlessly from everyone around him. He did not look like a man who had just spent thirty million dollars on a stuffed animal. Instead, he walked into the banquet hall with his usual composure, as though he had merely announced the price of an ordinary meal.

My mood, however, was anything but calm.

What was he doing here?

I had come to this auction partly because I wanted to distract myself from him. After what happened in his hotel room, the last person I wanted to see was Lucian.

Yet somehow, he had appeared here too.

Reporters noticed him almost immediately.

Several of them hurried toward him, surrounding him before he had moved far into the hall.

“Mr. Frostbane, what brings you to tonight’s charity auction?”

Lucian stopped briefly.

His expression remained composed despite the cameras and microphones gathering around him.

“I’m simply here to contribute to a good cause.”

His answer was short and polite.

Another reporter immediately tried to speak.

“Mr. Frostbane, could you…”

Lucian raised one hand before the question could be completed.

The gesture was calm but unmistakable.

He would not be answering anything else.

The reporters reluctantly stepped aside, and Lucian continued into the hall.

I watched him from my seat, still unable to understand why he had suddenly appeared.

Had Arya invited him?

Had he known I was here?

I immediately rejected that thought. Why would it matter whether I was here? This was a public charity event, and Lucian certainly did not need an excuse to donate money.

Still, something about his timing bothered me.

The auctioneer recovered quickly from the excitement and raised his voice over the murmuring crowd.

“Mr. Frostbane has raised the bid to thirty million dollars! Do we have any further offers?”

The hall quieted.

I looked at Winnie.

Her face had changed completely.

Only moments earlier, she had looked triumphant after bidding twenty million. Now her paddle remained motionless in her hand.

I almost found it funny.

Apparently, challenging me was one thing.

Challenging Lucian was another.

The auctioneer waited.

“Thirty million dollars, going once.”

No paddle rose.

“Thirty million dollars, going twice.”

The room remained silent.

My fingers rested against my own paddle, but I made no attempt to bid again.

Thirty million dollars was already more than enough.

Besides, if Lucian wanted to spend such an absurd amount on the kitten, let him.

“Thirty million dollars, going three times.”

The auctioneer paused for one last moment before bringing down the gavel.

“Sold!”

Applause immediately filled the banquet hall.

Lucian had won the auction.

Of all the items available tonight, he had somehow bought the plush kitten I had made with my own hands.

“Congratulations to Mr. Frostbane for acquiring this adorable kitten for thirty million dollars!” the auctioneer announced enthusiastically.

More applause followed.

Lucian walked toward the stage without hurrying.

My gaze followed him before I could stop myself.

The lights above the banquet hall fell across his dark suit as he climbed onto the stage, surrounding him with a warm golden glow. With his calm expression and striking appearance, he looked almost too dazzling beneath those lights.

I frowned and looked away for a second.

Why was I staring at him?

I was still angry.

I had not forgotten what happened last night simply because he appeared looking handsome at a charity auction.

The auctioneer continued with obvious excitement.

“Many thanks to Mr. Frostbane for his generous donation of eighty million dollars to charity!”

Eighty million dollars.

Another wave of applause filled the hall.

An event staff member stepped forward with the plush kitten and handed it to Lucian.

He accepted it carefully.

Then the faintest smile appeared on his lips.

My heart gave an uncomfortable little jump because, almost immediately, his eyes found mine across the crowded room.

He was looking directly at me.

There was an unmistakable warmth in his gaze.

I shifted slightly in my seat.

Damn it.

I had come here because I wanted to avoid him. Instead, Lucian had somehow found his way into the same auction and spent thirty million dollars buying my cat.

What exactly was he planning?

The auctioneer appeared equally curious.

Perhaps encouraged by Lucian’s faint smile, he asked playfully, “Mr. Frostbane, may we ask who you plan to give this kitten to?”

The question immediately caught everyone’s attention.

Several guests leaned forward.

Even the reporters who had stepped away earlier seemed suddenly interested again.

Lucian glanced at the kitten in his hands before a small smirk appeared on his face. He cleared his throat, then answered in a crisp, steady voice that carried across the hall.

“I’m giving it to the woman I love most.”

My eyelid twitched.

The woman he loved most?

Something bitter and unpleasant spread through my chest before I could stop it.

Teressa.

Was he talking about her?

The thought immediately destroyed whatever curiosity I had felt.

Had Lucian really spent thirty million dollars on a plush kitten because he planned to give it to Teressa whenever he finally found her?

A bitter laugh almost escaped me.

How ironic.

I was the person who had made the kitten.

After everything Lucian had told me on the Ferris wheel, he was now standing before an entire hall declaring that he had bought my creation for the woman he loved most.

If that woman was Teressa, then perhaps last night had revealed the truth after all.

The auctioneer smiled with obvious envy.

“Wow, what a lucky lady! Is she here tonight?”

My attention returned to Lucian.

He smiled.

But he did not answer.

That silence only made my thoughts more chaotic.

If Teressa was not here, why refuse to say so?

Lucian stepped down from the stage carrying the plush kitten.

Almost every woman in the hall seemed to be watching him now, and whispers followed him as he walked between the tables.

I tried not to care where he was going.

Then I realized he was walking in our direction.

Winnie noticed it too.

Her entire face brightened.

Before Lucian could reach us, she quickly stepped in front of me. Her earlier frustration disappeared, replaced by shyness and obvious anticipation.

“Lucian…”

Her voice was soft enough to make her intention obvious.

I watched without speaking.

Perhaps this would finally tell me what Lucian was doing.

But Lucian did not stop.

He did not even spare Winnie a glance.

He walked straight past her.

Winnie’s hopeful expression froze.

My own amusement lasted only a second because Lucian continued forward until he stopped directly in front of me.

I slowly raised my head.

His deep gaze met mine.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then Lucian inclined his head slightly and held the plush kitten toward me.

“Selene, this is for you.”

My mind went blank.

The banquet hall erupted into murmurs almost immediately.

“So Mr. Frostbane bought it for his fiancée!”

“He spent thirty million dollars just to give it to her?”

“He’s so devoted. I’m jealous.”

“She really is the woman he loves most!”

Their voices seemed to blend together around me.

I barely heard them.

My eyes remained fixed on the kitten Lucian had just placed in my hands.

He had bought it for me.

Not Teressa.

Me.

The realization sent an unexpected ripple through my chest.

A few minutes earlier, Lucian had stood on that stage in front of everyone and clearly said that the kitten was meant for the woman he loved most.

Now he had given it to me.

There was no misunderstanding what that implied.

Was he saying that I was the woman he loved most?

My fingers unconsciously tightened around the soft kitten.

What exactly was Lucian trying to tell me?

Only last night, he had been kissing me when Teressa’s name slipped from his mouth. I had slapped him because I believed that one mistake revealed everything he had refused to admit.

Yet now he had appeared here and made this declaration before everyone.

If Teressa was truly the woman in his heart, why give the kitten to me?

Why look at me that way?

Why publicly call me the woman he loved most?

“Selene?”

Lucian’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

I blinked and looked up.

A slight frown had appeared between his brows because I had been staring at the kitten without responding.

I quickly pushed down the tiny warmth threatening to rise inside my heart.

No.

A thirty-million-dollar gift did not erase what happened.

Pretty words did not erase it either.

I had nearly fallen for his words once already.

I would not make the same mistake again.

“Sorry,” I said coolly, holding the kitten away from myself, “but I don’t like this kitten.”

Lucian’s expression immediately darkened.

“Weren’t you just bidding on it?”

I had been.

Everyone here knew I had been prepared to spend fifteen million dollars on it only minutes ago.

That was not the point anymore.

“I don’t like it now.”

My tone remained indifferent, but I made sure my next words carried exactly the meaning I wanted him to understand.

“I never accept things that don’t belong to me.”

The kitten was not what I was talking about.

I watched Lucian’s eyes change slightly, and I knew he understood.

If his heart belonged to Teressa, then I did not want it.

I would not fight another woman for a place in a man’s heart, and I certainly would not accept being given something that had always belonged to someone else.

Before Lucian could respond, I stood.

“Move. I need to use the restroom.”