Chapter 96: I’ll Love You!

Words : 1013 Updated : Sep 26th, 2025

Chapter 96: I’ll Love You! Author’s POV Seraphina might have looked eighteen, but her soul was over forty years old. Her thoughts were a mess, tossing between past and present, and she knew she needed to stay clear-headed... She couldn’t afford distractions if she wanted to change her life. But Lucien... Lucien was the distraction she hadn’t prepared for. He was driving her crazy like no one ever had. Feelings she hadn’t known in her past life were quietly slipping in, which was impossible to ignore. They wrapped around her like a storm she couldn’t escape. "What do you mean by your past?" Lucien asked, his gaze searching her face. It wasn’t that he didn’t know anything about her past, but the version of Sera’s history was different from what he knew. "I don’t want to talk about it," Sera replied quietly. "If I do... You might look at me differently. You might even hate me." Lucien shifted a bit on his seat. His jaw tensed, and his lips parted as he wanted to say something, but nothing came. He had questions. All of them were right on his tongue; he stopped himself, pressing her now felt wrong. He wasn’t sure what this was between them. He had locked his heart away a long time ago. But seeing her in pain, it did something to him as if a sharp knife was digging right into his chest. Lucien had a terrible history with love. It had broken him so badly that he stopped feeling anything. Women were no longer people to him after that. They were just a way to fulfill his needs. They needed money, and he took what he wanted in return... A fair trade. But Sera was different. It wasn’t because she was Adrian’s sister or the Lancaster family’s daughter. If he wanted to play with her, he would have done it either way. "What if I don’t?" Lucien said without hesitation. The words came out sharply. And he meant it. When he loved someone, he gave everything, his time, his strength, his loyalty. His past was proof of that. He’d once loved a woman who ended up in an accident. He stayed by her side, helped her stand, walk, and breathe again... Until she didn’t need him anymore. And when she was finally fine... she disappeared. Without any goodbye or explanation. She was just gone. Lucien clenched his jaw, the memory still bitter. Seraphina’s voice broke through his silence. "Either way... I don’t think anyone would." She stared ahead, eyes distant. "Even if my body didn’t go through it all... my soul did. And it remembers. Every filthy thing I had to survive." Lucien went quiet. He could tell she wouldn’t open up if he asked her directly. So he tried another way. "Did your brothers know what happened to you?" Seraphina kept her eyes on the window. "Why would they?" she said quietly. "This is my memory. I just hope they never have to carry it. I don’t want them to suffer because of what happened to me." Lucien gave a small hum, then started the car again, the silence stretching as the engine came alive. A moment later, his voice cut through it. "So... you’re saying I shouldn’t like you?" His grip on the steering wheel tightened slightly as he sped up, eyes fixed on the road, but his words hung between them. Seraphina’s chest tightened at his question. She didn’t look at him as her voice came low, barely above a whisper. "I’m saying you shouldn’t... because I don’t know how to be loved without ruining it." Her fingers curled slightly on her lap, nails pressing into her skin. "I’m scared I’ll hurt you, or push you away. Or that you’ll see the real me and wish you never got involved." The words tasted bitter in her mouth. But they were true, and she needed him to hear before she couldn’t control her feelings for him. "I don’t want to be someone’s mistake again." She still didn’t look at him. The silence between them stretched until the car rolled to a stop in front of the Lancaster mansion. "We’re here," Lucien said softly, his voice low and unreadable. "Thank you," Seraphina murmured. She reached for her seatbelt, but as she turned, her eyes met his. He was already looking at her. Those jet-black eyes of his didn’t just look at her. It was as if he was trying to see something buried deep inside her, or was searching her soul to find out the truth. "I..." Her lips parted, but the words caught in her throat, and nothing came out. Lucien leaned slightly closer, his gaze steady. "I will love you," he said in a firm but gentle voice as he slowly unbuckled her belt. "I don’t need a reason. I don’t need your permission either." He paused, eyes still locked on hers. "I’ll love all of you. Your past, your present... and whatever’s coming." Sera’s breath caught. She almost forgot how to breathe after hearing his words. For a second, everything around her faded... the mansion, the night, her horrible memories, everything. All she could see was him at this moment. And the way he said those words... they were like a vow, not a promise. Something strange fluttered in her chest. She looked at him, something fierce and unfamiliar flickering in her chest... Like she wanted to keep him, hold him, own him... All for herself. "I..." she whispered again, voice and mind were barely there. "You’re not supposed to say things like that." Lucien tilted his head slightly, eyes still on her. "Then tell me," he murmured, "how should I say them... so you’d believe me?" Seraphina’s heart was in her throat. She didn’t know what to say. She was still trying to find the right words, as Lucien’s voice was still echoing in her mind, when— Tap tap. A sharp knock on the window shattered the moment. She turned abruptly, heart skipping, eyes darting toward the glass— Someone was standing there.

Chapter 96: I’ll Love You!

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