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Janet Winget POV

I couldn't deal with the lies this man was spewing. Doesn't he realize how visible his lies are?

Dalton, Lia, and my family knew I'd been in jail for the past three years. How am I supposed to be with him now?

Even though he came here planning to lie, he should have at least gotten his facts straight before making claims.

“Uncle, I think we need to talk alone,” Dalton said, his hand firm on my arm, Lia clinging to him.

“He's right, Mr. Ashford,” my father added, stepping down from the stage, my mother following closely behind.

Lucian’s gaze clung to me. “Sure, I don't mind. But I'd prefer it if you kept your hands off my woman.” His arm shot out, yanking me from Dalton's grasp, pulling me tightly against his side.

I trembled inwardly, forcing myself not to show how deeply Lucian’s touch was affecting me.

If looks could kill, Dalton would have buried me alive—shameless. Lia still hung on his arm, yet he stared at me like I was the betrayer.

“Let's go,” Dalton said sharply.

We all followed—my parents, Lia in Dalton’s hold, Lucian’s arm still possessive around my waist.

As soon as we stepped into a room away from the crowd, my father spoke first.

“Mr. Ashford, I believe you're confused,” he said, his voice steady. “Due to certain circumstances, my daughter was imprisoned for three years. She only got released today. So how could she have been with you yesterday?”

My hands turned clammy. My head throbbed.

How easily they say it—like it's just another mundane thing.

Three years. Three years wasted for nothing.

I did nothing. Yet they threw me in jail. I didn’t even want to remember the ridiculous reason—a mere robbery of a diamond ring?

They’re so rich; a ring wouldn’t have made them poor. Yet they threw their own daughter into prison—just because Lia said she saw me?

They never even listened to me. They decided my fate without a second thought—to ‘teach me a lesson.’

Lucian’s fingers flexed slightly against my waist. “Mr. Winget, didn’t you previously claim she was studying abroad?” His voice cut through the tension without an inch of hesitation.

My parents froze.

How does this man know? Was he at the party from the start?

Dalton jumped in quickly. “Uncle, that’s because they have a reputation to protect. That’s why it was hidden. But... you claiming you were with Janet... it’s just some confusion.”

I heard it—the strain in Dalton’s voice, the effort to keep from outright calling Lucian a liar.

Lucian’s gaze sharpened. “Did any of you visit her in jail even once?”

The room fell silent. The air grew thick, heavy with all the words left unspoken.

My father shifted uncomfortably. My mother avoided looking at me.

“No... we didn't,” my father admitted after a long pause.

My stomach twisted. Of course not.

Why would they visit the daughter they abandoned?

Lucian's arm around me tightened protectively. His eyes never left my father’s.

“I see,” he said, voice clipped, deadly calm.

Dalton cleared his throat, trying to defuse the tension. “It’s complicated, Uncle. Janet... she—”

“She what?” Lucian’s voice cracked like a whip. “She committed a crime? Stole from her own family? Or is that just another story you made up to cover your guilt?”

Dalton’s mouth opened and closed, no words coming out.

I clenched my fists at my sides. Say it. Say the truth. Tell him how you threw me away for nothing!

But they didn’t.

They stood there, silent, watching me like I was the problem.

Lucian's fingers brushed lightly against my lower back, a small gesture only I noticed. A silent reassurance. I'm here.

“I don't believe a word you say,” Lucian continued, cold and unrelenting. “Janet was with me yesterday. All day. Every second.”

Dalton flinched. My parents exchanged a quick, panicked look.

They’re scared now.

My heart hammered in my chest. Not from fear. From something hotter, stronger. Rage.

I straightened my spine. Lucian’s presence gave me courage I hadn’t known I still had.

“For your kind information, money can buy everything. And I bought the time she had in prison. I meet her every day. Sleep with her every night,” Lucian said, like the words meant nothing.

Even if I was confused—or scared—something about Lucian’s words made me feel... good.

It’s always me who gets looked down on by everyone. But watching Lucian get under their skin? I kind of enjoy it.

Dalton’s voice broke through the tension. “Is that true, Janet? You cheated on me?”

The nerve. Did he have any self-awareness at all? Me? Cheating?

He’s the one who crossed every line, and yet somehow, I’m the villain?

“I don’t think she needs to answer that,” Lucian cut in coolly. “When you spent every second with Miss Lia—if Janet did cheat—wouldn’t that make you even?”

Dalton’s jaw clenched. His fists curled at his sides like he was fighting the urge to lash out, but the damage was already done.

Good. Let him taste even a fraction of the humiliation I swallowed because of him.

“You’re lying,” he gritted out, voice low and trembling.

Lucian only smiled, a lazy, mocking curve of his lips. “Believe what you want. Doesn’t change reality.”

Dalton took a step toward me, but Lucian moved first, placing himself between us without so much as a glance.

He’s protecting me. Not because he has to... because he wants to.

Dalton scoffed. “You think you can hide behind him, Janet? That’ll save you?”

Cold chills surged through my entire body, leaving me breathless.

Lucian’s voice was smooth, lethal. “No one’s hiding. But you should.”

Dalton flinched like the words struck harder than a punch. He opened his mouth to argue— but couldn't.

For once, it wasn’t me drowning. It was him.

And it felt glorious.

“I’m taking Janet with me. If there’s anything you want to discuss, we’ll do it in front of your grandfather,” Lucian said. Without waiting for a reply, he started walking, keeping me firmly in his arms. He didn’t let go.

His hand stayed planted on my waist, possessive and steady.

His scent—warm, clean, and dangerously familiar—anchored me.

As we moved, I caught the hushed whispers rising behind us. Today’s scene would no doubt become headline gossip within hours. That’s how fast news traveled among the rich—like wildfire through dry leaves.

Even if no one knew exactly what had been said inside that room, their mouths would run miles with rumors.

We stepped out of the hall into the cool air. I swallowed hard, gathering the scraps of my courage.

“Why?”

It was the only word I could force out.

Lucian stopped.

For a second, he didn’t say anything—just looked at me. His gaze was unreadable, heavy enough to pin me in place.

“What do you think?” he asked quietly.

His voice wasn’t mocking. It wasn’t cold. It was something else—something that wrapped around me like a second skin.

‘I don’t know what to think.’

That’s what I wanted to say. But the words stuck in my throat, tangled with the storm inside me.

He leaned in slightly, his breath ghosting against my ear. “You don't have to think so much. Didn't you enjoy having me at your back?”

I did. ‘But how can I trust a stranger when my own people—people I gave everything to—threw me away like garbage?’

“I don't even know you,” I said, forcing the words past the knot in my throat.

A slow, teasing smile curved his lips. “You want to know me?”

I hesitated. His gaze pinned me in place, steady and unyielding, like he could see through every wall I built.

Do I?

A bitter laugh almost slipped out, but I caught it before it could escape. I had learned the hard way what it cost to trust too easily.

“Knowing you doesn't change anything,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.

He tilted his head more, studying me with a calm that unsettled me more than any threat. “Maybe not. But it’s a start.”

The way he said it—soft, sure—chipped at my defenses before I could stop it.

"Why did you help me?" I asked, squirming against his loose hold, desperate to change the subject. "Not just help—why the hell did you even kiss me?”

Even thinking about how he had kissed me—how he had stolen my first kiss—sent shivers down my spine and stirred a swarm of butterflies in my stomach.

I had been engaged to Dalton for years, yet he had never touched me like that. Never even laid a single finger on me.

My twenty-six years of life flashed before my eyes—all because of a single, unexpected kiss—and how good it had felt.

‘Drop it, Janet,’ I told myself, forcing my thoughts back to reality.

He leaned in, voice low and certain. “I want you... as much as you want me, Janet Winget. I, Lucian Ashford, don’t do anything without a purpose.”