A Love That WS Sacrificed

Calysta could still remember the way Lucien looked at her on their wedding day-his eyes unreadable, his smile cold and rehearsed. Everyone around her saw a charming billionaire, a man too composed for his own good, too polished to be true. But to her, he had been a dream. A silent, mysterious dream she longed to understand.

She had convinced herself that his silence was depth, that his restraint was elegance. That maybe love didn't always come in laughter and warmth-maybe it came in silence and intensity. How foolish she had been.

Three months ago, she wore white silk and diamonds, standing in front of a man who had promised her forever with lips that never trembled. Three months ago, she believed she had won the heart of Lucien Thorne-the enigmatic heir to Thorne International, the man every woman in the city whispered about, but none truly knew.

But today, she stood alone in the grand hallway of his penthouse, barefoot on the cold marble floor, clutching the documents she never should've found.

Her hands shook.

Her heart felt like it had been dragged through glass.

They weren't just business papers. No, they were proof-ugly, undeniable proof that her entire marriage was a transaction. That she wasn't chosen for love. She was chosen for blood.

She was the daughter of the man Lucien hated most.

And she had walked right into his trap.

The echo of footsteps approached behind her, slow and deliberate. Her pulse quickened. She turned around-and there he was. Lucien, in his tailored charcoal suit, his tie loosened like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Going through my files, Calysta?" he asked, voice cool, almost amused.

She tried to speak, but her voice cracked. "Is it true?"

He didn't even blink. "That depends. What exactly did you read?"

Her fingers clenched the papers tightly. "That this marriage was part of a deal. That you married me to humiliate my father. That I'm just-" Her voice broke. "Just a pawn in your damn game."

Lucien exhaled, slow and indifferent, as if she had merely accused him of being late for dinner. "I didn't think you'd find those this early."

A bitter laugh escaped her. "So it's true."

He stepped closer, and she backed away. For the first time since she met him, she was afraid-not of what he might do, but of what he already had.

"How long were you going to keep this from me?" she whispered. "Or were you planning to throw it in my face when you were done playing husband?"

Lucien's jaw tightened, and for a flicker of a second, something shifted in his expression. Guilt? Pity? No. Not Lucien. He didn't feel things like that.

"I married you because it was the most effective move," he said. "Your father took everything from my family. I just returned the favor."

Calysta stared at him, disgust crashing over her like a tidal wave. "You could've destroyed him without dragging me into it."

"True." He tilted his head, his voice dropping. "But where's the satisfaction in that?"

Her vision blurred with unshed tears. "I loved you," she said, her voice shaking. "I thought you-"

"You thought wrong."

Silence exploded between them.

That was it. The final crack in her heart.

She wanted to scream, to tear every lie from the walls of this cold, lifeless home. But all she could do was stare at the man she had once thought was broken, misunderstood. The man she had defended, trusted, married.

And he had watched her fall.

He had let her believe in a fantasy while he stood behind the curtain, pulling every string.

"You're a monster," she whispered.

Lucien didn't flinch. "Monsters don't wear rings, Calysta. They give them."

Her hand trembled as she tore the wedding ring from her finger. She threw it at him-it hit his chest and fell to the floor with a dull, metallic clink.

"I don't care what my father did to yours. I'm not him," she spat. "But you? You're worse. Because I loved you, and you knew that. You used it."

Lucien stepped forward, but she raised a hand. "Don't. You got what you wanted. You broke me. Congratulations."

He stopped. For a second, his lips parted like he was going to say something-but the moment passed.

Calysta turned her back to him. The silence between them now wasn't empty-it was filled with everything that would never be said.

"You're leaving?" he asked quietly.

She didn't answer. She walked toward the door, each step heavier than the last.

"Where will you go?" he asked again, almost too softly.

Calysta turned her head slightly, her voice steady despite the pain. "Somewhere you'll never find me."

And then she walked out.

Out of his penthouse. Out of his trap. Out of the perfect lie she had once called a marriage.

But what she didn't know was this-Lucien had never planned to fall for her. And now that she was gone, something unexpected twisted in his chest.

It wasn't regret. Not quite.

It was something far more dangerous.

Something even he couldn't control.