Augustine froze, stunned. He hadn’t expected to hear it.
"You know her?" he asked slowly, disbelief creeping into his voice.
Lucien’s response ca without hesitation. "She is mine."
The words struck Augustine like a hamr.
Lucien, the man who treated won like toys, who never stuck around longer than a few nights, was suddenly claiming Audrey. And not just claiming—he sounded shaken, furious, terrified.
It all clicked, and it infuriated Augustine.
"So you are the one who broke her heart, dumped her, and walked away." His voice turned cold. "And now you are acting like so protective lover? If you really cared, why’d you throw her away in the first place? What’s the point of acting like this now?"
"I know I screwed up," he said with a tinge of guilt in his tone. "I didn’t understand what I was feeling. I don’t do love things—you know that. But when I found out she was poisoned, that she might die..." His voice faltered for a mont before hardening again. "I realized how much she ans to . I can’t lose her."
Augustine went quiet, letting Lucien’s words sink in. Lucien, the dangerous mafia king, was in love. And he was shaken to the core.
Augustine dragged a hand through his hair, tension rippling through his body. He could hear the raw guilt in Lucien’s voice. But that didn’t an it was going to be easy.
Could Audrey even forgive him? That was the question Augustine couldn’t answer.
"I’m coming," Lucien said. "I want to see her. And more than that..." his tone dropped, razor-sharp, "I’m going to make the people who hurt her pay."
"You don’t need to handle that," Augustine cut in. "I’ve got it covered. The attack wasn’t ant for her—it was for Anne. Audrey just got caught in it."
He paused for a beat.
"But you?" he added, tone tightening. "You already did your damage. The poison may have brought her to the hospital, but you broke her heart. If you are really coming, prepare yourself because she might not want to see you. She might not forgive you at all."
Beep.
He hung up the call, muttering under his breath, "Damn it, Lucien..."
A shadow moved through the hospital corridors unnoticed. The figure in a hooded jacket had been loitering for hours, watching and waiting for everything that had been happening around, blending into the background.
He slipped out through a side exit and hurried across the dimly lit parking lot. He looked around, scanning for movent.
Empty.
He pulled out his phone and dialed a familiar number.
The call connected.
gan’s voice ca through. "Is it done? Is Anne dead?" She sounded impatient.
The man exhaled a long, heavy breath. "No. Everything went sideways. The plan failed. Anne didn’t eat the cupcakes. It was her friend, Audrey. She collapsed after eating them, but the doctors managed to save her."
"What?" gan snapped, her voice rising with fury. "Are you saying Anne is still alive?"
"Yes, she is completely fine. Just shaken and emotionally rattled. But..." he paused, his voice growing more tense, "Augustine is already making moves. He has ordered his people to go after whoever is behind this. If he traces anything back to us, we are finished."
gan was so angry that she could barely breathe. She had imagined manipulating the reports, bribing the dical staff, and covering up Anne’s death without a trace. But everything had crumbled. The plan had failed, and now the threat of exposure lood over her like a blade.
Still, she wasn’t out of options. She had prepared backup plans.
Straightening her spine, she forced composure into her voice. "Stay calm. Don’t lose it." Inside, her heart thundered, but her voice stayed cold and clipped. "It’s ti for Plan B. Erase everything. Every ssage, every call log, anything that links to Lorie. I want all of it gone. You understand ?"
"Understood," the man replied. "I’ll get on it imdiately. But there is a problem. Lorie won’t keep her mouth shut. If anyone pressures her, she’ll crack and expose everything. What do we do about her?"
gan’s expression hardened. Panic curled in her chest, but rage quickly took over. ’That useless idiot,’ she cursed silently. ’She couldn’t even handle one simple task.’
Clutching the phone tightly, she gave the order, "Kill her."
The other end went quiet. Then the man responded, "I’ll call you when it’s done."
Beep.
The call ended. gan lowered the phone from her ear, her eyes fixed ahead, unblinking.
"Sorry, Lorie," she muttered under her breath. "This isn’t personal. But I can’t let you ruin everything."
Unaware of their evil plan, Lorie lay curled beneath the covers, happy with the fact that she would hear the good news the next day and that she would soon be able to escape this suffocating marriage. Robert hadn’t co ho yet, and the quietness in the room cald her down. Her breathing slowed, and she fell asleep peacefully.
But that calm was shattered in an instant.
A rough hand clamped down on her arm with a grip like iron, jerking her upright without warning. Lorie’s eyes flew open, her breath catching in her throat. Disoriented and groggy, she tried to make sense of what was happening.
Under the dim light, she saw the towering shape of a man standing over her, his face twisted in rage.
Before her mind could catch up, pain exploded across her face.
Smack
A hard slap sent her head snapping sideways.
"Ugh," she gasped, clutching her cheek, eyes widening. The remnants of her sleep vanished.
"You filthy bitch," Robert roared, grabbing a fistful of her hair and yanking it viciously. "Lying here like nothing has happened while you’ve turned my life upside down? I’ll kill you."
"Uh," Lorie cried out, struggling against his grip, her fingers digging into his wrist. "Let go. You are hurting ."
"Let go?" he growled. "You think you get to walk away from this?" He ripped her off the bed by her hair and flung her to the ground. "Tonight, it ends. Either you die, or I do."
Another slap struck her, more violent than the first, sending her sprawling. Her head cracked against the sharp edge of the bed fra. The room spun. Her ears rang. A wave of nausea surged up her throat.
She didn’t even have ti to recover before Robert lunged again. This ti, his hand wrapped around her throat, squeezing.
When she t his eyes, her blood ran cold.
What she saw in his eyes wasn’t just anger. It was madness. His pupils were wild, his face contorted with sothing unhinged. This wasn’t the usual rage she knew. This was a man completely out of control, beyond reason. It seed as if he truly ant to kill her.
Lorie clawed at Robert’s hands, gasping, her head thrashing side to side in desperation. Panic surged through her as her vision dimd at the edges.
"Why?" she rasped. Her voice ca out broken, strained under the pressure on her throat. "Why are you doing this to ?"
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