Selene's POV
I took a deep breath. The phone still warm in my hand. Those messages burning in my mind.
Asher waited. His eyes steady on mine.
"His name is Lucien Ardent."
Asher frowned. "Lucien. The name feels. I don't know."
"You've met him. Before the accident. He was at some of our events. Always watching. Always smiling too much."
"Did I know him? Personally?"
"No. That was the problem. You didn't know what he was capable of."
Asher sat up straighter. "What is he capable of?"
I looked down at the phone. At those messages.
"He wants my family's company. He's been after it for years. My grandfather did business with his grandfather. Back when they were partners. Then something happened. A betrayal. I never got the full story. But Lucien believes my family owes him. Everything."
"And the landlord story?"
"I lied. That day at the gallery. He's not my landlord. He's. He's been watching me. Controlling me. For years."
Asher's jaw tightened. "Controlling you how?"
"He has proof. Documents about what my family did to your family. He threatened to release them. Destroy the Hawthorne name forever. Unless I did what he said."
"What did he make you do?"
"Stay away from you, for one." I met his eyes. "When you reappeared at my gallery, he was furious. He told me to send you away. To forget you. Or else."
"Or else what?"
I could not say it. Not yet.
"Selene." Asher took my hand. "Or else what?"
"He threatened to kill you."
The words hung in the air.
Asher did not flinch. Did not look away.
"The accident," he said quietly. "My memory loss."
I nodded. "I think so. I don't have proof. But yes. I think he did it."
"Why?"
"Because you were asking questions. About your family's past. About mine. You were getting too close to the truth. And Lucien cannot afford the truth coming out."
Asher was quiet for a long moment. Processing.
I took a shaky breath. "There's something else. Something I should have told you before."
Asher waited.
"Years before I met you. Lucien asked me out. Twice."
Asher's eyes narrowed. "He what?"
"The first time was 2013. A party. He was charming. Polite. I said no. Didn't think much of it." I swallowed. "Then 2014. Another event. He asked again. More insistent this time. I said no again."
"And after that?"
"He stopped asking. But he never stopped watching." I met Asher's eyes. "When I met you. When we started dating. When we got married. I think he saw it as a personal insult. That I chose you over him."
Asher's jaw tightened. "So this isn't just about the company. Or family history."
"No. It's about me. It's always been about me." I hugged my knees. "I think that's why he planted those documents. Why he made sure you left. Why he erased you. He didn't just want to destroy your family's claims. He wanted to destroy us. Because I chose you."
Asher was quiet for a long moment.
Then he reached for my hand.
"None of this is your fault."
"I keep thinking. If I had just said yes back then."
"Then he would have owned you. Controlled you. And when he got bored, he would have destroyed you anyway." Asher's voice was firm. "Men like him don't love. They collect. You weren't a person to him. You were a prize."
I looked at him. "How do you know that?"
"Because I love you. And I've never once thought of you as something to own."
Tears filled my eyes.
"He planted those documents," Asher continued. "Made me find them. Made me believe your family destroyed mine."
"Yes."
"And then when I left you. When I was alone and broken. He caused my accident." His voice hardened. "So I wouldn't remember. Wouldn't come back. Wouldn't uncover the truth."
"Yes."
"He erased me," he finally said. "Took five years of my life. Took you from me."
I squeezed his hand. Could not speak.
He stood. Walked to the window. Peeked through the curtain.
"I don't see anyone."
"He's good at hiding."
Asher turned back to me. His face was calm, but his eyes were burning.
"Then we stop hiding."
"What?"
"We fight back. We find proof of what he did. We go to the police. We expose him."
I shook my head. "You don't understand. He has connections. Money. Power. The police won't touch him."
"Then we find someone who will."
"There's no one."
Asher crossed back to the bed. Sat in front of me. Took both my hands.
"Listen to me. I spent five years not knowing who I was. Not knowing you. I'm not spending one more day being afraid of a man who hides in shadows and sends threatening texts."
I stared at him.
"I just got you back," he continued. "I'm not losing you again. Not to him. Not to anyone."
"Then what do we do?"
Asher thought for a moment.
"The documents. The proof Lucien has. Where does he keep them?"
"I don't know. Somewhere safe. Somewhere I could never find."
"What about your family's records? Anything that might help?"
I thought about it. The lockbox at my apartment. The files I had copied over the years.
"There might be something at my place. Papers my grandfather left. Things I never understood."
"Then we go there."
"Lucien will be watching."
"Then we don't let him see us."
I wanted to believe him. Wanted to believe we could win.
But fear had been my companion for five years. It did not let go easily.
Asher saw my hesitation. He reached up. Touched my face.
"I'm not asking you to not be scared. I'm asking you to be scared with me. Together."
I leaned into his touch.
"Together," I whispered.
He kissed me. Brief. Firm. A promise.
"Get dressed. We leave in five minutes."
I nodded. Started pulling on clothes.
Asher went back to the window. Watched the parking lot.
"They're out there," he said quietly. "I can feel it."
"Then why aren't we running?"
"Because running never works. Not forever." He turned to me. "The only way to win is to stop running and fight."
I looked at this man. My husband. My ghost. My future.
"Okay," I said. "We fight."
Asher smiled. That smile.
"That's my wife."
I almost laughed. Almost cried. Did both.
We were ready to leave when my phone buzzed again.
I looked at the screen.
Leaving so soon?
Say goodbye to room 8 for me.
And Asher?
Welcome back to the game.
I showed Asher.
He read them. Handed the phone back.
"He's watching the door," Asher said. "Which means he's not watching the window."
He crossed to the bathroom. Opened the small window above the toilet.
"Can you fit?"
I looked at it. Tight. But possible.
"Yes."
"Go first. I'll hand you the bag."
I climbed onto the toilet. Pushed the window open. Squeezed through.
It was tight. Painful. But I made it.
I dropped onto the grass behind the motel. Looked around. No one.
Asher handed the bag through. Then climbed out himself. He was bigger than me. It took longer.
We stood together behind the motel. Breathing hard.
"Now what?" I whispered.
Asher pointed to a path leading into the trees.
"We walk. Find a main road. Get a cab. Go to your apartment."
"And if he follows?"
Asher took my hand. Squeezed.
"Then we don't let him catch us."
We ran.