Chapter 91. Conflicted Proposal

Peace seemed to reign throughout the next five months, and Lucien found himself settling into a routine that felt almost too good to be true. The mansion was calm, the guards were alert but not overbearing, and Zayn was around more often than before.

Lucien loved the quietness. He loved waking up without fear of being snatched away. He loved the little moments—eating ice cream in the sunlit garden, dozing off while Zayn worked late in the study, humming to himself as he rested his hands on his growing belly.

But even in his moments of joy, skepticism lingered. Sometimes, late at night, when Zayn had already fallen asleep beside him, Lucien would stare at the ceiling and wonder if those two men—the ones with sharp eyes and mocking smiles—would ever come back.

Later, he learned their names. Mikhail and Damien.

And later still, he learned they were dead. Brutally so.

When the news reached him, he didn’t know what to think. A part of him felt relieved, anot