Chapter 6

The first gunshot rang out while the music was still playing.

Glass shattered.

A silver bullet punched into the wall, leaving a large, blackened scorch mark.

The next second, the crowd erupted into chaos.

"Hunters!"

Someone screamed.

Guards rushed in immediately.

A second bullet sailed over the crowd.

Someone shrieked.

I was knocked back a step.

A hand closed around my wrist.

It was Lucian.

"Stay with me."

His voice was low.

I froze for a second.

His grip was tight.

Even in all this chaos, I could feel how cold his skin was.

For just an instant, my heart still ached.

After the last hunter attack, I had imagined this moment so many times.

If we were ever in danger again, would Lucian do what I had done that night? Would he protect his partner?

Would he at least, in that one moment, pull me close?

Now he was holding my hand.

But it was too late.

I already knew he had been lying to me all along.

Guards quickly surrounded us.

"Sir, ma'am, this way!"

Lucian pulled me toward a side door.

That was when Celeste's voice came from nearby.

"Lucian!"

The crowd had pushed her to the other side of the hall.

A hunter had charged in from a side corridor.

A silver bullet ricocheted off a pillar, and Celeste was pinned against the wall.

Lucian stopped dead.

He turned and hesitated for a split second.

Then he let go of my hand.

"Vivienne, go with the guards."

I watched him.

He had already turned away and was heading toward Celeste.

No hesitation.

No looking back.

A guard grabbed my arm.

"Ma'am, hurry!"

I stood there and looked at Lucian one last time.

He pushed through the panicked crowd and vanished with Celeste in an instant.

I didn't call after him.

I wasn't even surprised.

His reaction, letting go of me the moment she called, had been part of my plan from the start.

Even so, the confirmation left me cold.

Exactly as I had known he would, Lucian chose her.

"Let's go."

I turned and followed the guards.

The corridor outside was just as chaotic.

Gunshots came one after another.

The Prince's guards were evacuating guests through different exits.

Gideon's people quickly blended in.

Near the rear entrance, one of the guards moved close to my side.

"Ma'am, this way."

I recognized him.

One of Gideon's men.

I followed him into a side corridor.

Hunters were close behind.

A silver bullet hit the wall, sending stone fragments flying.

We kept moving.

At the end of the corridor was an exit leading to the outer grounds.

Gideon's team was already waiting.

"Ma'am, hurry."

I was led into a room nearby.

I changed out of the gown and handed it to Gideon's man.

I looked down at my hand.

The wedding ring was still on my finger.

When I slipped it off, there was a faint line around the base where it had sat for years.

I held it in my palm for a few seconds.

Then I closed my eyes and handed it over.

"Leave this at the scene too."

Another burst of gunfire sounded outside.

Someone urged, "Ma'am, we have to go now."

I pulled on the dark coat they had prepared and was escorted out through the opposite side.

A violent explosion shook the air behind me.

I turned instinctively.

Bullets struck a mannequin that matched my build.

The accelerant they had doused it with ignited.

Through the car's rear window, I could only make out a vague shape flickering in the rising flames before it collapsed entirely.

Vivienne Ravenscroft, the wife who had endured five years of lies, died in that fire.

Smoke and the smell of burning spread fast.

More and more guards poured outside.

Someone was shouting my name.

"Vivienne!"

My fingers tightened.

It was Lucian.

He had finally come out.

Someone must have led him to the spot consumed by flames.

Only a heap of fabric remained, burned beyond recognition.

Scorched jewelry.

And a wide scatter of ashes.

Lucian stood there.

He stood perfectly still.

Someone found something in the ashes and held it out to him.

Even from this far away, I recognized it.

It was my wedding ring.

He looked down at the ring in his hand.

He didn't move for a long time.

People around him seemed to be speaking to him.

He didn't respond.

The man who hadn't hesitated to drop my hand in the chaos, who had turned and run to save another woman, was now standing frozen in front of my "remains."

I watched him in silence.

It didn't hurt the way I had imagined it would.

Maybe five years had already worn away everything that could feel pain.

Now all that was left was a hollow numbness.

For five years, I had waited for him to come home, night after night.

Waited for him to truly look at me, just once.

But it took Vivienne Ravenscroft dying for him to finally stop.

How absurd.

It was all far too late.

"Ma'am."

The driver asked softly, "Can we leave?"

I placed my hand on my stomach and nodded slowly.

"Let's go."

The car began to move through the darkness.

I took one last look out the window.

Lucian was still standing there, crying out my name in anguish.

I didn't look back.

From today on, I would take my baby and build a good life.