Lucien's POV
I still remember the accident like it happened the night before.
The moment Genny called and told me Raphael had gone to talk to Braelyn, a bad feeling settled deep in my gut. It was instinct, the kind that had kept me alive and ahead of everyone else for years.
Right then, I knew the board had shifted. New rules had been quietly introduced into a game I had always controlled.
And Raphael… Raphael was the most dangerous piece on that board, no matter how much Braelyn refused to admit it. His breaking down was a bad move. I thought he was just being possessive but things were complicated. My mind went to Ivan's warning. There were pieces I didn't know.
She still loved that bastard. Maybe not with the same fire as before, maybe not enough to forgive him, but feelings like that don't just disappear. They linger, rot, and turn into weaknesses. Weaknesses that get people destroyed. Feelings that needed to die.
