Chapter 51: The Reason He Disappeared

Olivia’s POV

​Breakfast had never felt so quiet.

​I sat alone at the massive dining table, pushing a piece of scrambled egg around my plate with a fork. The empty chairs around me seemed more noticeable than usual. Lucas wasn’t there, which I was grateful for after everything that had happened last night, but Lucian wasn’t there either. In fact, the entire mansion was strangely quiet, as if something had happened and I was the only person who didn’t know about it.

​Where was Lucian?

​He had completely vanished after that intense incident at the pool yesterday, and I hadn’t caught a single glimpse of him since. Lucian wasn’t exactly the type of man who disappeared quietly. Usually, even when I didn’t see him, I could tell when he was somewhere in the mansion. The guards became more alert, the servants were more careful, and everyone seemed to be watching what they said or did. But since the pool, nothing.

​Not that I was complaining, of course. Not having my fake husband breathing down my neck was supposed to be a relief. But as I chewed on a piece of toast, I couldn’t stop my mind from drifting back to him. I hadn’t seen him at dinner yesterday. He hadn’t come to my room afterward, and he hadn’t appeared at breakfast this morning either. Considering the way things had ended between us at the pool, with Lucas interrupting us and Lucian angrily teleporting his brother away, I had expected him to return to me. Instead, he had disappeared.

​Why was I even thinking about him? Lady Rebecca had practically announced this morning that she intended to end our marriage. If everything went according to her plan, Lucian would soon have absolutely nothing to do with me. That should have made his absence easier to ignore. For some reason, it didn’t.

​Losing my appetite completely, I dropped my fork and headed back upstairs. I felt strangely exhausted, so I didn’t even bother going to the clinic for work. Between Lucas appearing in my bed in the middle of the night, Lady Rebecca waiting in my bedroom when I woke up, and lying through my teeth every single day, I was beginning to feel as though I hadn’t properly rested in weeks.

​When I reached my room, I walked straight over to the window seat and sat down, staring out at the gardens below. Servants and guards moved around in the distance, but I barely noticed them. Lady Rebecca’s surprise visit kept replaying in my head, especially the warning she had given me before leaving.

​It wasn’t only the warning that bothered me. It was the way she had said it. She had sounded so serious, almost afraid of something happening between Lucian and me. What was she so afraid of?

​The click of the door handle pulled me out of my thoughts. Gloria walked into the room carrying a neatly folded stack of fresh laundry.

​"Gloria," I said, turning toward her. "Why does the mansion seem so quiet today? It feels completely dead."

​Gloria paused before placing the laundry on the edge of the bed. Her expression immediately changed. "Ah, Princess. You haven’t heard?"

​My brows pulled together. "Heard what?"

​"Last night was terrible." She lowered her voice. "We almost lost Lady Lillian."

​My heart dropped. "What? How? What happened to her?"

​"Her heartbeat slowed down dangerously yesterday evening," Gloria explained. "For a moment, it stopped completely. The healers were called immediately. Lady Rebecca and Alpha Lucian were in her room all through the night."

​I sat straighter. "Her heart actually stopped?"

​Gloria nodded. "For a short time. Luckily, the healers managed to stabilize her around midnight, but they’re still watching her closely."

​I released a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. "And Lucian?"

​Gloria’s expression softened. "Alpha Lucian hasn’t left her side. He has been in her room since yesterday evening. Even after the healers told him she was stable, he refused to leave." She paused. "Lady Lillian has always been very special to him. He loves his entire family, of course, but everyone knows how close he is to her. Her condition affects him more than anyone else. I think he’s afraid something will happen the moment he leaves her side."

​I swallowed hard as my mind immediately returned to the memory Doctor Vance had shown me two days ago. Lillian in that yellow dress. The gunshots. Her small body falling. Lucian screaming as he caught her and desperately tried to keep her alive. Even though it had only been a memory, I could still remember the look on his face.

​So that was where he had been. That was why he hadn’t come to my room.

​Guilt immediately followed that thought. His little sister had nearly died last night, and a part of me had been sitting downstairs wondering why he hadn’t come looking for me.

​"I wish I could go see her," I said quietly.

​Gloria glanced at me, and for a moment, I actually considered it. I wanted to know whether Lillian was okay. I wanted to see her with my own eyes. But I knew better. Lucian probably wouldn’t want me anywhere near his sister. As far as he knew, I was Kenneth’s daughter, the daughter of the man who had put Lillian in that bed in the first place. Showing up there now might only make things worse.

​"No," I said quietly. "Never mind."

​Gloria gave me a small nod before finishing with the laundry. A few minutes later, she left, and I was alone again.

​For hours, I remained by the window, but Lady Rebecca’s warning was no longer the only thing on my mind. I kept thinking about Lucian and wondering what he was going through. Everyone saw him as the ruthless Alpha who could face almost anything without breaking, but I had seen what happened when Lillian was shot. I had seen how completely helpless he had looked while holding her bleeding body. Now he had almost lost her again, and knowing Lucian, he was probably blaming himself for something he couldn’t control. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

​By afternoon, sitting alone with my thoughts had become unbearable, so I decided to take a walk. I changed into a simple dress and left my room, hoping some fresh air would clear my head.

​I was halfway down the grand staircase when I saw him.