Chapter 2

Back then, when my family fell and my father passed away, this necklace was seized by debt collectors to settle what we owed. It ended up drifting from hand to hand, and I had searched for it for five whole years.

"You want it?"

Lucian had heard the hitch in my breathing. Of course he had. A fated mate, even a rejected one, knew where to place the knife.

When I looked at him, a cruel little smile had already curved his mouth.

At some point, that human, Violet, drifted over like a ghost. Boneless and soft, she curled herself around Lucian's arm, her voice deliberately sweet.

"Lucian, this necklace is so special." Her fingers skimmed his sleeve while she tilted her head at the display. "The design is a little dated, but I do love that vintage charm."

As she spoke, she flicked me a provocative glance.

I didn't respond. I simply raised my paddle, my clear voice ringing through the hall. "Ten million."

A faint ripple stirred through the room. No one had expected the "former mate" who had just been publicly humiliated by her Alpha to name such a staggering price.

Lucian lifted a brow, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes, before he casually raised his own paddle. "Twenty million."

"Twenty-five million," I said without hesitation.

The auctioneer's eyes brightened. "Twenty-five million from Miss Winters. Do I hear—"

"Thirty million."

My fingertips dug into my palm as I named my limit. "Thirty-one million."

If I took on two urgent commissions, I might be able to gather the money.

Only then did Lucian turn to look at me. Perhaps he had noticed how tightly my hand was clenched, because a cruel, satisfied curve tugged at his mouth.

"Fifty million."

That number had already far exceeded the necklace's actual value.

The entire room fell silent. I had no strength left to continue bidding.

The auctioneer recovered with visible excitement. "Fifty million going once! Going twice! Sold! Congratulations, Alpha Blake!"

The hammer came down with a crisp final strike.

A server approached respectfully, carrying the velvet box that held my father's necklace. Lucian did not even glance at it before taking it in one hand and tossing it carelessly into Violet's arms.

"Here," he said. "Play with it."

My stomach turned.

Violet caught the box with a delighted little gasp. Then, with theatrical innocence, she opened it in front of me and lifted the necklace into the light. The sapphires flashed with that deep ocean blue I had once seen against my father's hands. She swayed it as if admiring the craftsmanship.

"Thank you, Lucian." Her smile widened. "But the blue is a little too dull for my taste. Tomorrow, I'll have a jeweler pry the stones out and make them into a pair of cufflinks for you, hm?"

For a moment, I stopped breathing.

Pry them out?

My father's last gift. His last touch. The last proof he had stood in this world and loved me.

Something cold and wild rose in my chest.

"Lucian."

I stepped directly into his path before he could turn away.

"Sell me the necklace," I said.

I forced every word to remain calm, no matter how violently my pulse hammered. "I can't pay fifty million in one lump sum tonight, but I can sign a legally binding debt note and repay you with interest. Double, if you want. Believe me, Lucian. I will pay you back very soon."

In the half-light, his expression grew even darker, harder to read. "Repay me double? With what? With money from that nameless male "friend" of yours who has been keeping you?"

Always that imaginary man.

Somewhere in the rotten center of his pride, Lucian truly believed there was only one reason a woman like me could survive after leaving him: another male had taken me in. Another male had fed me, clothed me, protected me, and paid my bills.

Anger trembled through me so sharply I had to lock my knees to keep still.

Before I could answer, Violet leaned closer to him and cast me a glance from behind her lashes. Then, right on cue, she shrank back a little, as if intimidated.

"Lucian..." Her voice softened into a timid murmur. "Serra really does seem to need this necklace. Even though it was your gift to me, if she insists..."

As she spoke, her eyes reddened with insulting speed, moisture gathering at the corners as neatly as if she had trained for it in front of a mirror. Even her breathing grew slightly uneven.

Lucian's entire posture changed.

His brow furrowed at once, and his arm circled her waist protectively. "Violet," he said in a gentleness that struck me like poison, "anything I give you is yours forever. No one is taking it away."

No one.

A laugh nearly tore out of me, but it would have sounded too much like pain.

I could not bear another second of their performance.

I stepped forward and reached for the box. "Violet, you don't even value it. Don't ruin it."

"Ahhh!"

Her scream split the corridor.

My hand had only just reached out.

I had not even touched the velvet box.

Yet Violet suddenly let out a sharp cry and collapsed backward as if every bone in her body had melted at once. One second she was clutching the necklace with theatrical indignation, and the next she was folded into Lucian's arms, one delicate hand pressed dramatically to her chest, her face draining to an alarming shade of white.

"Lucian..." she gasped, her breathing ragged and thin. "My body hurts so much. Am I... am I going to faint?"

Lucian's expression changed instantly.

The shift was so fast it might have been called instinct, if instinct were not meant to protect truth instead of lies.

His arm tightened around Violet at once, holding her as though she might shatter. Then he flung out his free hand toward me with brutal force. There was no warning, no pause, no effort to gauge what had actually happened. Alpha power struck like a physical blow, hard and merciless, fueled by outrage he had not even bothered to question.

"Seraphina, have you lost your mind?" he snapped. "She's only human. How can you be so rough with her?"

I barely had time to brace.

The force sent me flying backward.