Chapter <b>35 </b>


    EX 20 vouchers


    After getting Olivia to sleep, the image of Natasha abandoned in the rainy cemetery gued Lucas.


    Blocked by her, Lucas braved the storm to her apartment, hoping for a chance to <i>see </i>her. The foul weather meant no prying neighbors; he got inside unseen.


    Anxiously, Lucas banged on the door. “Natasha, I know you’re home. I just need to make sure you’re okay. Please, open the door.”


    He’d noticed the curtains were open–someone was inside. He’d even called Sadie beforeing. Sadie had cursed him out but confirmed Natasha wasn’t with her. After the day’s dramas, he needed


    to see her.


    The downpour couldn’t muffle the annoying racket of the knocking. The door swung open. Natasha stood there, d in pale green sleepwear, an oversized jacket draped over her shoulders.


    Lucas’s eyes lit up. “Natasha,” he said. Seeing her, he realized how long it’d been. Instinctively, he reached out to hug her.


    “Get lost,” Natasha said. The eyes that once lit up for him now held pure disdain. Her familiar face wore a coldness he didn’t recognize. “Keep this up, and I’ll call the cops.”


    Utterly stunned, Lucas protested, “Natasha, I’m your boyfriend.”


    Natasha met his gaze directly. “Lucas, are you deaf, or do you just never take me seriously? We broke up the second made


    you


    your choice.”


    Her words were icy, unforgiving. “Your pestering is bothering me. We had years together, stop right here. I don’t want this to get ugly.”


    If not for old times‘ sake, Natasha would’ve made a scene when she found him with Olivia. No matter how hurtful the end, she wouldn’t deny the past.


    And she wouldn’t deny the warmth and support he once gave her–those feelings had been real. But it was over.


    “Natasha,” Lucas pleaded, his voice cracked. “We’ve known each other for twenty years. How can it end? You hate Olivia? Fine, I’ll avoid her, I promise.”


    “And if I want her dead?” Natasha questioned.


    Lucas faltered. “She doesn’t deserve that, Natasha, maybe there’s a misunderstanding.”


    Natashaughed, as if seeing through him. “The old Lucas never asked about misunderstandings. He stood by me, no questions asked.”


    She eyed the cake box in his hand. “You came to check on me because you were worried?” <fnd413> For original chapters go to Find_Novel(.</fnd413>


    4:34 pm <b>P </b>


    :?


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    Seeing a possible opening. Lucas nodded eagerly. “About today’s things, I worried you’d be sad. And it’s your birthday.”


    Natasha ignored the offered cake, ncing at his watch. She asked, “The rks visit the cemetery at set times–you know that.


    “But from the Wrights‘ ce, even with a detour to the cemetery, you wouldn’t be thiste. Where else did you go?”


    Lucas remained silent. Natasha pressed on. “You spent thest two birthdays with Olivia. She’d never let you skip today. Especially after our fight at the cemetery. You went to the rks first?”


    He tried to smooth things over, but she shattered his pretense. “Lucas,” her gaze pinned him despite her height. “Your promises are empty. You were with Olivia moments beforeing to apologize.”


    Her tone turned serious. “I’ll never coexist peacefully with Olivia. With her around, you have to choose. But let me be clear: no matter what, we are finished.”


    The breaking of their rtionship had been sealed from the moment he turned away.


    Natasha.” Desperate, he grabbed her wrist. “I’m sorry, please. At least let me share this cake with you?” He still wanted to make amends, unable to ept her words that it was all over.


    ‘No.” Natasha wrenched her arm free, identally knocking the cake box. It tumbled, spilling its sugary ruin across the floor–a mirror of their rtionship. “I don’t need it.”


    Azy male voice cut through the tension from inside. “Natasha. Come blow out the candles.”


    Lucas recognized it–the voice that answered her phone that day. Since he hadn’t shown up after hat, Lucas had naturally dismissed him as just someone Natasha had rounded up to make him ealous.


    But if she’d already made up her mind back then, she was not just trying to rile me up. Then what kind of


    person would be by her side, answering her calls, and now turning up at her home?‘ Lucas


    thought.


    Lucas clenched his fists. It was a simple enough sentence, yet somehow he picked up on the warning in it–a tant im of possession.


    As Natasha moved to shut the door, Lucas jammed his hand in the gap. The heavy door mmed onto his palm. He didn’t flinch, eyes burning. “Who is he? Why is he here?”


    “None of your business” Natasha tried to force the door closed.


    But Lucas shoved the door open, storming in like he’d caught her cheating. They’d grown up together–he knew she’d never met this voice’s owner before.


    ‘To


    get this close so fast, this guy must have ulterior motives,‘ he thought.


    4:34 pm PAA


    :t


    20 vouchers


    The apartment waspact. His gaze swept over the dining table: cream soup, dishes, and arge cake adorned with flickering candles.


    The flickering mes stung his eyes. Lucas finally got it–she didn’t need his cake because he was toote.


    Lucas’s gaze shifted to the man who’d prepared all this. He had a sharp, angr face with deep–set eyes; the side profile revealed a prominent brow ridge, a strong, straight nose, and a chiseled jawline.


    Dressed in ck casuals, he sat at the dining table with unppableposure, his slender fingers idly twirling the cake. Not even a flicker of emotion when Lucas burst in.


    There was an aura of quiet authority about him—the poise of someone who held all the strings, calm and inmand.


    Recognition hit Lucas like a jolt; his eyes narrowed sharply. ‘It’s him? The mysterious heir to the Turner family?‘ he mused.


    Lucas had only caught a distant glimpse of him once at a party. But his striking good looks and formidable presence had stuck in his memory.


    More than his well–known traits of wielding immense power and having a ruthless temper, what troubled Lucas was the man’s shadowy underworld connections and the blood that stained his hands.


    “What’s someone this dangerous doing in Natasha’s home?‘ Lucas mused.


    With thoughts racing, Lucas instinctively stepped protectively in front of Natasha. The two men locked eyes across the room, the air hanging still for a beat.


    Alexei’s expression remained impassive–until his gazended on Natasha, shielded behind Lucas. A flicker of displeasure tightened the corner of his eye.


    田


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