"I'm sure that you're going to like that house. It's perfect for the two of you," James said for the third time that day as they all sat having dinner. "I'm looking forward to seeing it now," Thea said with a smile trying to ignore the piercing gaze Bella was throwing her way. She had been staring at them since earlier making Thea quite uncomfortable. She had properly apologized to Thea when she came into the office calming some excuse about not taking her medicine and not feeling well that day. Lucian simply snorted at that excuse taking Thea's hand and standing up heading toward the dining room. "You'll need to find a better excuse than that. This one is getting a bit old don't you think, Mother?" He'd comented leaving both his parents behind as he made his way out of the office. His father simply sighed and made a sign for the butler to push him back to the dining room. Strangely enough, conversation flowed back as they began to have their meal and Bella was acting like nothing
“It’s perfect isn’t it?” Lucian said as he came to sit beside Thea on the couch. “It is damn perfection,” She said with a sigh as she looked at the spacious open-concept living room. The house that James had shown them was perfect, whether it was the walking distance to the store, the car drive to university or the company, and the space they needed to divide between them. With enough sunlight, a reading room with a view, two offices one huge library, and enough bedrooms for them to live separately. It was basically made for them. James had defied every impossible request they had prepared for the house and even managed to exceed their expectations. It was simply perfection. Thea looked back at Lucian and he turned to her. Their eyes met for a moment but they only managed to look at each other for a few moments before they burst out laughing. “Can you believe this, the house even has a walkway to a small greenhouse in the back?” She said as she laughed, “I knew Dad was good but
“You know I can’t be in the same place at the same time right?” Thea told Pen and she sighed through the phone.“But I was really hoping that you could get some exposure for the outreach program today, it had been your work for years and you deserve the credit for it,” She complained.“I know but Peter did as much work as I did. I don’t mind letting him take the fall- I mean the exposure,” She shuttered with a laugh.“I heard that. And I know that you’re making excuses but I will let this one slime since you will be dealing with much more media with the project anyway. Make sure to stop by for Lunch when the time comes,” Pen instructed.“Alright…” Thea sighed “Oh, and Lucian and Haden are going to be here too. I have a meeting with them right before lunch,”“Alright…” Pen answered before hanging up.Thea looked back at the huge crowd of applications before her and sighed. She was going to be sorting through these for the rest of the week if she doesn’t find someone to help her. But sh
Lucian looked down at his watch as he leaned against the wall listening to Pen and Peter argue about their Lunch destination. “How can you even suggest eating something like that, it’s disgusting,” Peter said as he scrolled through his phone.More concerned about Thea’s tardiness he only half listened to them as he looked at them. Peter smiled at one of the students who passed by them only for her eyes to widen when she realized that he was standing with one of her professors. He looked like one of the university students with a light shirt and skinny jeans. Lucian never noticed but Peter was one of those people easily mistaken for younger than their age. According to what he told him he was already in his late thirties and was already been married once.He always thought this but there was some unique quality to Thea’s friends. From Pen and her contrast from femme fatale to lab rat, to Peter who could have passed on for a university student while he was one of the youngest and most
Lucian stood there as he watched the ambulance speed away. The Dean’s shell-shocked stare was still etched in his memory, along with Thea’s pale ghostly face as she smiled at him with a painful expression. Her eyes had slowly closed as if she was slowly letting go of everything around her, then as if blowing him away with a punch to the guts, her hand which had been squeezing his moments earlier fell to the ground with a lifeless thud.The paramedics had said that she was in critical condition rushing her to the university hospital. Which was luckily closer from within campus than anywhere else. But still, the medics had looked worried.“I did nothing! She was the one who attacked me!” Lucian turned to the sound of cursing and screaming to see Robert struggling against the police officer who was holding him and leading him into the patrol car. He was somehow out of it as if detached from his body. Even though he was burning with rage at the sigh of that vermin, he couldn’t force or u
“Lucian, you can’t keep going like this, how about you take some time to rest?” Lucian turned around to find Haden standing in front of him looking as haggard as Lucian felt holding an already cold paper cup still filled with the black substance they called coffee.“How about Professor Keaton?” He asked.“Pen and James managed to make him rest and they took him to his residence to rest for now. Why don’t you take some time to rest too? I will have a room for you at the hotel in front of the hospital,” Lucian sighed knowing that this is what he should be doing. It was already 4 AM it had been hours since they brought Thea in and she was still in the ICU not waking up. The doctors had said that she would need to wake up for them to know whether there were any bad effects from the effects.Even though Lucian knew that there was nothing he could do for her now, he had remained there by her grandfather’s side counting the seconds and hoping for a miracle.Haden had insisted on remaining
Thea slowly opened her eyes immediately blinded by the lights around her, she closed them again. She tried to move but her body ached so much that it was painful even to be away from it. A croaked groan slipped through her dry throat and she opened her eyes again landing on her grandfather’s sleeping figure as he sat on a chair beside her bed.He looked haggard and exhausted, as if he barely slept in days. She wanted to reach out to him, wake him up, and scold him about not taking care of his health properly but she didn’t find the strength to do so. Something moved on the other side of her bed and she shifted her gaze slowly to meet the bright gaze of Lucian in a similar state as her grandfather. He looked down at her his eyes shining bright with a smile and almost unshed tears and she felt his hand on hers holding and lightly squeezing it.“You’re finally awake,” He said softly.“Lu-Cian,” She whispered her voice barely coming out as a croak and his smile widened as a suspicious sh
“If you ever make me worry about you like this again I will kill you with my own hands,” Pen said as she sat on the bed in front of Thea holding her hand tightly her eyes filled with tears.“I’m sorry,” Thea said with a wry smile.This was the tenth time she apologized to her friend but there was no stopping Pen from her ranting once she started.“I told you that guy is a scumbag from the start but you kept insisting that you had to give him a chance. If you keep giving a chance to people like him this is what’s going to happen!” Pen rambled on again.She had dark circles around her eyes and she looked tired and pale. And the hand which was holding hers was still trembling even though it had been ten minutes since she came to her hospital room.“Pen…” Thea said softly and Pen paused mid-rant looking at her, “I am okay now. I’m fine,” She repeated looking into her friend’s eyes as she squeezed her hands.Those words were all Pen needed to release the sob she had been holding onto. She
“Oh lord…” Thea mumbled as she closed her eyes looking down at the book in her hands barely seeing the words.“Did you say something?” Lucian asked as he leaned forward on the kitchen counter to look at her.“No, nothing,” she said with a smile, and he nodded, going back to preparing whatever it is that he was preparing.Thea stole another glance at him, feeling her heartbeat faster at the sight of him in his unbuttoned shirt and waistcoat hugging his muscles in a perfect fit that made her almost swoon. It had been like this since she got back from the hospital, so much that it had gotten unbearable.At first, Lucian was simply more attentive, especially since she was having trouble dealing with the pain from moving around. He had been adamant about not leaving her alone to the point of intending to sleep on the chair bestie her!In the end, he slept the whole night on the bed beside her on top of the covers when she insisted that he shouldn’t sleep on the chair. He didn’t touch her n
For a while, it was quiet. An absolute quietness that was both peaceful and disturbing. There were moments like flashes when voices would reach her sometimes calling her name and sometimes talking amongst each other. But she was never able to pull through long enough to truly know what was going on.It was by the time that her awareness grew more alert when she heard them. The two distinct voices she knew so well.“How could you let this happen?! How could you when she was right beside you?!”“When are you going to stop blaming others for your own problems? You lost Thea because you acted like you could control her. Stop trying to blame me and start trying to figure out how to redeem yourself!”These words were followed by the distinct sound of a slap. And even in her sleep, Thea would later realize what truly went on that day.“…”“Are you alright?” Another voice asked.“Yeah… can you go check on him?”The silence that followed after that was deafening. Thea tried shifting her hand a
“You didn’t answer my question,” Lucian said in the same calm tone as if this man hadn’t just threatened to violate her in front of him. “Who. Is. Behind. You” Lucian enunciated each word coming out of his mouth.Thea’s eyes moved away from the sight before her to look at Lucian’s hands. They were clenched in tight fists that she could distinguish through the darkness. She didn’t need to doubt whether or not Lucian was provoked by this man’s words. Because she could feel the rage coursing through his tight muscles ready to spring out at a moment’s notice.The man paused looking at Lucian with a blank face, the smile completely gone as he looked at him. Thea thought for a moment that he was going to turn violent when he simply asked.“Why? Are you going to pay me more than them?” He asked.Thea felt instant relief when the man said that, if he could be convinced with money, then…“If we can reach a deal,” Lucian answered, and the man smirked.Something was wrong, seriously wrong. His e
Thea's head felt as if it was going to split in pain as she began to regain her consciousness. She groaned and tried to shift wondering why she was having another hangover when she didn't even remember drinking. That's when the memory of her last moment of consciousness hit her brutally like a slap.Thea opened her eyes frantically looking around her. In a panicked move that did nothing but kick her back to the concrete ground with a hard thud as her hands remained tied behind her back unable to do anything to block the impact.The air got knocked from her lungs and she gritted her teeth looking around her trying to distinguish where she was only to hear a voice from near her."Hey... It's okay, don't move abruptly,"Thea turned around and felt her eyes well up with tears as she looked into the blue eyes she had been trying so hard to avoid for more than a month."What happened?" She asked as she tried to sit up this time succeeding as she maneuvered herself up."We were kidnapped. I
"What the hell did you just do?" Thea looked back at her friend to find her looking at her with a deep frown as she held her phone in her hand mid-gesture as if she was too shocked to continue what she was doing."I asked him to leave..." Thea answered simply and Pen sighed."I know. I was there. But why would you do this? He came all the way here from his meeting and raised hell because they took you in like this,""Well. that's all pretense. We're supposed to be a loving couple after all. I just don't want him involved too much in my problems," Thea stated as she turned around intending to walk outside."Are you okay with this?" Pen asked."Of course. This is for the best," She stated feeling a pang in her chest at the words she uttered.Somehow, she could see Lucian's blue gaze as it filled with hurt when she asked him to leave. His face as he looked up at her on the stairs telling her that he wanted to be with her. "Are you sure you're okay with this? Didn't you go a bit too far
Everything was a lie… Every single thing. Every moment, every word, and every touch. Even the sincere moments of consolation that drew out her strength, and the silly fights over small things. It was all a well-orchestrated scheme to make her hopelessly fall in love. How ridiculous is that? Just how much effort did it have to take to make her believe this? A pang rang through Thea’s chest as she felt the moment of realization she had been avoiding for more than a month draw near. “Did you hear what I just said, Professor Keaton?” The detective asked and Thea looked at him a bit out of it trying to gather her thoughts. “Sorry, can you repeat that?” She asked as she looked at him. “I was asking if you knew something about the money. Your uncle keeps insisting that you used it for illegal activities and we can’t find any trace of it in your accounts,” the detective said making Thea sigh. “As I said for the fifth time. There are no unusual activities and the money went to charity,” s
"Professor... Professor Keaton!" Thea was startled as she looked back at her student who was looking at her with a worried expression on her face."Yes... Sorry, I was lost in thought for a moment there," She said with a soft smile."You seem more tired after coming from your honeymoon, Professor. Are you sure that you're okay?" She insisted and Thea smiled at the young woman and nodded."Of course, I was just thinking about something. did you want something?" She asked."Oh, yes. There was another bouquet for you from your husband. I left it in your new office, and the data from last week's tests are out," She said with a sly smile as she handed her the results printed on a document.As she looked down at it to find a little envelope on top."This is.." She began only to find her student already walking away with a grin."Came with the flowers!" She announced as she disappeared into the other side of the lab.She lifted the envelope to find her name written on it with the distinct
Lucian woke up with a start as his hand slipped from the edge of the table making him lose his equilibrium. Looking around him, he sighed when he realized that he was still sitting in the kitchen with the lights on waiting before his silent phone.He had returned home that evening from work eager to try and have dinner with Thea, knowing that she should be home before him. As he waited and waited, he realized that Thea was probably dining outside and had his meal in lonely silence mulling over how to win her over again.Walking through the house, he sighed at the unfamiliarity of the place. It was a new house even for him. A place he had been hoping to live in with her. Now that he was, he realized that just living with her was never going to be enough. Because even though she was by his side, she felt farther away than when she disappeared last month.Reaching for his phone, he took a deep breath and tapped the screen calling her phone. The call went straight to voicemail. Worry star
Thea walked into the coffee shop looking around for her friend. She waved at her from across the room, and as she was walking toward her, she could see that she wasn't alone.Thea paused giving an exasperated sigh as she glared at the grinning, other person, who wasn't supposed to be there. Instead of looking guilty or even bothered, he smiled at her and lifted his cup in greeting.Thea looked at the door ready to walk outside, but the sight of the mint tea waiting for her on the table made her hesitate. Making a split-moment decision, she gave in to temptation and sat down reaching for the cup and inhaling the fresh herbal scent."Told you that the tea would be a good bait..." Peter said with a smirk and Pen sighed."Sorry. He insisted on coming as soon as he knew that we were meeting," She said.Thea took a sip from her tea and savored it completely ignoring the two."Well, she's not answering my calls and she's never in her office when I visit. If I go to her house, Lucian will pro