Chapter 154

Olivia POV

The night was supposed to be uneventful. I had attended dozens of these high-class architectural gala’s before, polished affairs where people with too much money came to flaunt their wealth under the guise of charity. Normally, I could navigate them without a second thought.

But then I saw him. Lucian.

I hadn’t known he would be here, but the moment I spotted him across the grand ballroom, I felt my pulse shift into something irritatingly unstable.

He stood near the entrance, dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit, scanning the crowd with the trained ease of someone who could see everything without looking like he was paying attention to anything.

Because, of course, he was working security tonight.

It made sense, an event like this required the best. And Lucian, with his quiet authority and sharp focus, fit that description effortlessly. I should have been fine. I should have been able to ignore him. Except, that I couldn’t.