Chapter Ten

The doorknob turned slowly.

Not hurried. Not forced.

Controlled.

Like whoever stood outside already knew the door would open for them eventually.

Vivian stepped back instinctively, her heart hammering against her ribs.

“Lucas?” she called out, voice shaky.

No answer..

Another slow turn of the knob.

Then, a firm stop.

Silence.

The kind of silence that felt intentional, like someone was waiting for permission without asking for it.

Vivian grabbed a small glass vase from her table, holding it tightly. Her hands were shaking now.

“Who’s there?” she demanded louder.

A pause.

Then a voice came through the door.

Male. Calm. Familiar.

“Vivian. It’s me.”

Lucas.

Her grip loosened slightly. But she didn’t move.

“How did you...” she started.

“I never left the building,” he said.

Then the lock clicked again. The door opened.

Lucas stepped inside. His eyes immediately scanned her face.

“You’re pale,” he said.

Vivian stared at him, still clutching the vase. “Someone was just trying to get in here.”

Lucas didn’t react with surprise. Instead, his jaw tightened.

“I know.”

That single sentence changed the air in the room.

Lucas closed the door behind him and checked the lock twice.

Then once more.

Vivian frowned. “You’re acting like this is normal.”

“It’s not normal,” Lucas replied. “That’s why I’m here.”

She lowered the vase slightly. “You said you were outside.”

“I was,” he said. “Until I saw movement on the floor below yours.”

Vivian froze.

“So you came back in?”

Lucas nodded.

“Someone followed you home,” he added.

Her stomach dropped.

“I didn’t see anyone,” she whispered.

“That’s the problem,” Lucas said quietly.

Lucas looked around her apartment; small, exposed, vulnerable.

Then back at her.

“You’re not staying here tonight,” he said.

Vivian immediately shook her head. “No.”

Lucas didn’t argue.

He simply said, “You don’t have a choice.”

That made her step forward. “Excuse me?”

His voice dropped, firmer now. “You were almost accessed through your door in the middle of the night. Someone is actively targeting you. You stay here, and you’re giving them what they want.”

Vivian’s eyes narrowed. “And where exactly am I supposed to go? Your mansion? So you can control everything I do?”

Lucas paused, then said, unexpectedly, “Yes.”

Silence.

That answer wasn’t defensive.

It was honest.

And that honesty unsettled her more than anything else.

Vivian stared at him, searching his face for manipulation.

But what she saw instead was focus.

Concern.

And something else she didn’t want to name.

“You don’t get to make decisions for me,” she said quietly.

Lucas stepped closer, but stopped at a respectful distance.

“I’m not making decisions for you,” he said. “I’m making sure you and the baby survive long enough for you to hate me properly afterward.”

That almost made her laugh.

Almost.

But didn’t.

Instead, her voice softened slightly.

“You think I’m in danger because of your company?”

Lucas didn’t hesitate. “Yes.” He paused, then added, “And because of me.”

That hit differently.

Vivian looked away.

The anger she had been holding onto for days started to blur with something heavier.

Uncertainty.

Fear.

Exhaustion.

“I don’t even know what’s real anymore,” she whispered.

Lucas didn’t move closer.

He just said, “Then come somewhere real. Somewhere I can control the risk.”

Vivian let out a shaky breath.

“You’re impossible,” she muttered.

“I’ve been told worse,” he replied.

That earned the smallest flicker of emotion from her- almost a smile, but not quite.

***

Two hours later, Vivian stood outside Lucas’s residence again.

This time, it didn’t feel like a prison.

It felt like a fortress.

The gates opened automatically as his car approached. Security nodded as they passed.

No questions. No hesitation. Just obedience.

Vivian watched everything quietly.

“This is ridiculous,” she muttered.

Lucas glanced at her. “Safer than your apartment.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t safer,” she replied. “I said it’s ridiculous.”

That earned a faint exhale from him. Almost a laugh.

Almost.

Inside the mansion, Evelyn was already waiting. Her eyes softened immediately when she saw Vivian.

“My dear,” she said warmly. “You look exhausted.”

Vivian gave a small nod.

Lucas didn’t waste time.

“Prepare the guest wing,” he told a staff member.

Vivian turned sharply. “Guest wing?”

Lucas looked at her.

“You think I’m letting you stay alone right now?”

“I think I should have a say in where I sleep,” she said firmly.

A pause.

Then Evelyn gently stepped in. “Let her choose,” she said softly.

Lucas hesitated. Then nodded once.

“Fine.”

All eyes turned to Vivian. She looked between them, then exhaled slowly.

“I’ll stay,” she said finally. “But I’m not being locked in anywhere.”

Lucas nodded.

“No locks, just protection.”

***

Later that night, Vivian lay in the guest room bed, staring at the ceiling.

Too much had happened in too little time.

Her body still felt weak. Her mind even weaker.

She placed a hand on her stomach.

“You better be strong,” she whispered. “Because I don’t know what’s coming anymore.”

Outside her door, footsteps passed once. Then stopped.

She sat up slightly.

“Lucas?” she called softly.

No answer.

She stood slowly and opened the door.

The hallway was empty.

Too empty.

Then, a faint vibration came from the floor below.

Like something heavy had just been moved.

Vivian frowned. She stepped forward cautiously toward the staircase.

And halfway down, she saw him.

Lucas stood in the dim light near the lower hallway, speaking quietly on the phone.

His voice was low. Sharp. Controlled.

“I don’t care how you do it,” he said. “Find out who gave her address to the outside network.”

Then his expression darkened further.

“And about Sandra, if she’s behind this again, I want proof this time.”

Vivian froze at the top of the stairs.

'Sandra. Again.'

Lucas suddenly paused mid-sentence. As if he felt her presence.

He turned his head slightly. Their eyes met.

For a moment, neither moved.

Then Lucas said into the phone, “I’ll call you back.” He hung up.

Silence stretched between them. Vivian finally spoke.

“You’re not telling me everything.”

Lucas didn’t deny it. Instead, he said quietly, “You’re right.”

Then the lights in the hallway flickered once. And from somewhere deep inside the mansion, a distant alarm system beeped once.

Not loud.

But deliberate.

Lucas’s expression changed instantly.

“That shouldn’t be active,” he muttered.

Vivian stepped back slightly.

“What shouldn’t be active?”

Lucas looked past her, toward the system panel on the wall, and said one word.

“Breach.”