Nobody moved.
The fire crackled softly in the drawing room, but the silence felt louder than the storm outside.
I looked at Alekxander.
Really looked at him.
And for the first time since I met him…
He looked shaken.
Not cold.
Not guarded.
Shaken.
My stomach twisted painfully.
“What happened that night?” I asked quietly.
Cassian looked between us carefully.
“Maybe this is not the best time…”
“No,” I interrupted.
Because I was tired.
Tired of secrets.
Tired of everyone speaking around me like I was too fragile to hear the truth.
The stranger near the fireplace smiled faintly.
“I agree.”
Alekxander’s eyes turned murderous.
“You do not get to speak.”
“And yet here I am.”
God.
I hated this man already.
I crossed my arms tightly.
“Can someone please explain why every conversation in this house sounds like the season finale of a psychological thriller?”
Nobody laughed.
Rude.
The stranger looked at me again, almost thoughtfully.
“You truly are different from her.”
Something ugly twisted in my chest.
Different.
Not her.
I didn’t even know why that bothered me anymore.
Alekxander stepped slightly closer to me.
“Do not respond to him.”
“Oh, so now we’re giving orders?”
“Yes.”
“That’s unfortunate for you because I hate authority.”
“I noticed.”
Cassian muttered, “This tension is becoming unbearable.”
I ignored him.
My eyes stayed on Alekxander.
“What happened the night she died?”
His jaw tightened immediately.
“That is not a conversation for him to witness.”
“Too late,” the stranger said calmly.
“I already witnessed it years ago.”
Cassian’s hand immediately moved toward his weapon again.
The stranger noticed and sighed softly.
“If I intended harm, Lord Evermont, you would already be dead.”
“See?” Cassian muttered.
“That sounded incredibly evil.”
Honestly?
Agreed.
Alekxander looked at me again.
And suddenly all the anger in his face disappeared.
Only exhaustion remained.
That scared me more.
“She found documents connected to the Society,” he said finally.
The room fell quiet.
“She confronted me that night.”
I swallowed slowly.
“What kind of documents?”
His eyes darkened.
“Records.”
“Of what?”
Silence.
Then…
“Experiments.”
Cold crept up my spine.
The stranger watched carefully as realization slowly crossed my face.
“The Ashbourne women,” I whispered.
Alekxander said nothing.
That was enough confirmation.
I felt sick. Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
Cassian looked grim now too.
“The Society believed certain bloodlines carried stronger memory retention abilities after death.”
“Retention,” I repeated weakly.
“You all say insane things so casually.”
Nobody argued.
Because honestly?
Fair point.
I looked back at Alekxander.
“And she found proof.”
“Yes.”
“What happened after that?”
For a second, I thought he wouldn’t answer.
Then quietly.
“She wanted to expose them.”
The stranger smiled faintly.
“And Lord Vale disagreed.”
My eyes snapped toward Alekxander immediately.
“You tried to stop her?”
“She would have died.”
“She died anyway.”
The words came out sharper than I intended.
Pain flashed briefly across his face.
Gone almost instantly.
But I saw it.
God.
This man carried guilt like it was stitched into his skin.
“I told her to leave it alone,” he said quietly.
“I told her we needed more time.”
“And?”
A muscle in his jaw ticked.
“She thought I was protecting my family.”
Oh.
Oh no.
I could already see where this was going.
The stranger folded his hands behind his back casually.
“They argued.”
Cassian looked annoyed.
“Must you narrate like a villain?”
“I am simply helping.”
“You’re doing the opposite.”
I barely heard them.
My chest hurt suddenly.
Because I could picture it too clearly.
Original Ophelia terrified and angry.
Alekxander trying to protect her without explaining enough.
Both of them hurting each other while thinking they were right.
God.
That sounded painfully familiar.
“She stopped trusting you,” I said softly.
Alekxander looked at me like the words physically hurt.
“Yes.”
Silence filled the room again.
Heavy silence.
Emotional silence.
The worst kind.
Then the stranger quietly added.
“She died three days later.”
I stopped breathing.
Alekxander’s hands curled into fists.
Cassian swore under his breath.
The stranger’s eyes moved toward me again.
“She died believing he betrayed her.”
The look on Alekxander’s face.
God.
I almost wished I hadn’t asked.
Because suddenly I understood something terrifying.
He wasn’t afraid of losing me.
He was afraid of repeating history.
Every time he lied to me…
Every time he tried to hide things…
Every time he looked at me like I might disappear—
It wasn’t just guilt.
Raw fear.
I looked away first because suddenly the room felt too intimate.
Too emotional.
I hated emotional vulnerability before midnight.
Terrible experience.
“So what?” I asked quietly.
“You came here to emotionally devastate everyone?”
Cassian nodded immediately.
“Honestly, that does seem to be his goal.”
The stranger ignored him.
“You deserve the truth, Lady Ashbourne.”
“Then start talking normally.”
His lips twitched slightly.
Annoying.
“I knew you before your modern life.”
The room stilled again.
I stared at him.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“That’s impossible.”
“You’ve said that several times tonight despite overwhelming evidence that impossible things happen around you constantly.”
Okay.
That was irritatingly fair.
I hated intelligent villains.
“Who are you?” I asked again.
This time, he answered.
“Lucien Arden.”
The name hit the room strangely.
Cassian frowned immediately.
Alekxander’s expression darkened.
I looked between them.
“Am I supposed to know who that is?”
“You shouldn’t,” Alekxander said coldly.
Lucien smiled faintly.
“And yet she did once.”
A headache started forming behind my eyes again.
Fantastic.
Love that for me.
“You keep speaking like you knew me personally.”
“I did.”
“No.”
“You did not.”
“I watched you die twice.”
The entire room froze.
My heartbeat stopped.
Twice.
TWICE?
I laughed suddenly because honestly what else was I supposed to do at this point?
“Oh, amazing,” I muttered.
“Fantastic. Love the character development.”
“Ophelia,” Alekxander warned softly.
“No, because apparently I collect deaths now.”
Lucien’s expression shifted slightly.
For the first time since he arrived…
He almost looked guilty.
“You were never meant to suffer this much.”
Something about that sentence chilled me instantly.
Not sympathy.
Regret.
Like he had watched something terrible happen from far away.
Alekxander stepped forward sharply.
“Enough.”
Lucien’s eyes met his.
“You cannot protect her from the truth forever.”
“And you think you can?”
“No,” Lucien admitted quietly.
That surprised everyone.
Even Cassian looked confused.
Lucien looked back at me.
“But I can warn you.”
Every instinct in my body screamed at once.
Danger.
“What warning?”
The storm outside crashed violently against the windows.
And then Lucien said softly.
“The Society knows you survived.”