Tied to my enemy

Chapter Ten: The Ghosts Between Us

Selene’s words hung in the air like a spell no one dared to break.

Celeste felt her pulse hammering in her throat. “You knew my mother?”

Selene nodded slowly, her silver hair glinting under the flickering light. “Evelina Armand was the bravest woman I ever knew. She believed she could end the feud between our families even when the men refused to see reason.”

Lysander’s hands clenched at his sides. “You disappeared. You left me.” His voice cracked, a mix of anger and disbelief. “Why didn’t you come back? Why let me believe you were dead?”

Selene’s eyes softened, shimmering with regret. “Because I had to disappear, Lysander. The day Evelina died, I was supposed to die too.”

Celeste’s breath caught. “What do you mean?”

“There were people who didn’t want the truth to survive,” Selene said quietly. “Evelina and I created something called Project Meridian, an alliance meant to merge both empires under shared ethics and innovation. No more power games or manipulation. But your fathers… they saw it as betrayal.”

“Betrayal?” Lysander echoed, his tone sharp.

Selene looked at him with sorrow in her eyes. “Vincent Vale found out we planned to expose the financial corruption linking both companies to illegal deals. He thought Evelina had convinced me to destroy him so he struck first.”

Celeste’s knees weakened. “My father… he always said Evelina’s accident was—”

“A lie,” Selene finished. “Your father knew too. He covered it up to protect the family name.”

The room fell into silence. Outside, the storm raged harder, thunder rolling like judgment.

Lysander took a slow step closer. “You’re telling me both our fathers are responsible for her death?”

Selene’s lips trembled. “They were responsible for everything—the feud, the deaths, the secrets that chained you both to this marriage.”

Celeste stared at her. “They made us enemies… to keep the truth buried.”

Selene nodded. “Your mothers built a bridge. Your fathers burned it.”

The words sank in, each one heavier than the last.

Celeste turned away, tears stinging her eyes. Lysander’s world felt like it was collapsing, piece by piece. Everything he’d believed about loyalty, revenge, legacy all crumbled beneath the weight of his mother’s confession.

Then Selene’s voice softened. “But it isn’t too late.”

Lysander looked up, his voice hoarse. “Too late for what?”

“For redemption,” she whispered. “For peace.”

Celeste turned back to her, confusion flickering in her eyes. “What are you saying?”

Selene reached into her shawl and pulled out a small metallic drive—thin, sleek, and old. “This is what Evelina died protecting. The files from Project Meridian. The proof of what they did.”

She placed it in Lysander’s trembling hand. “Everything you need to expose them is here. But you must decide together what comes next is revenge… or truth.”

Celeste and Lysander exchanged a look, the kind that carried both hatred and something dangerously close to hope.

Selene smiled faintly, her voice fading like moonlight. “Whatever you choose, do it as one. That was Evelina’s last wish.”

Thunder crashed again, shaking the old walls. For a long time, none of them spoke.

Lysander moved first, his thumb brushing over the metallic drive like it might vanish if he blinked. “If this is real… if this proves everything…”

“It is,” Selene interrupted softly. “Evelina and I backed up every file, every transaction, every document linking both companies to the syndicate that handled illegal exports. It’s all there. The merger they made you sign, the arranged marriage it’s all built to control, not unite.”

Celeste felt her stomach twist. “So they forced us into this because of power and guilt.”

Selene’s gaze softened. “Because they feared what you’d become if you learned the truth together.”

For the first time, Lysander couldn’t meet Celeste’s eyes. He turned away, voice low. “All my life, I’ve hated her family. Hated everything they stood for.” His throat tightened. “And all along… it was a lie.”

Celeste’s heart broke at the sound of his voice. It was raw and human.

“You were children,” Selene said. “Both of you. They shaped you into enemies before you could even understand what the fight was for.”

Silence lingered, broken only by rain against the window.

Then Lysander looked back at her mother, his voice steadier. “If we expose this, they’ll lose everything. The companies, the names, everything they built.”

Selene’s expression didn’t waver. “Sometimes, to build something new, you must let the old burn.”

Celeste exhaled shakily. “And if we don’t?”

“Then history repeats itself,” Selene said softly. “And the next generation pays the price.”

A long pause. The kind where the air feels too heavy to breathe.

Finally, Celeste turned to Lysander. “What are you thinking?”

He shook his head, eyes still fixed on the drive. “That I don’t know what’s right anymore. But I know what feels wrong and it’s living a lie.”

Selene watched them both, a faint, bittersweet smile forming. “Evelina would’ve been proud. She believed in you both long before you ever met.”

“Met?” Celeste frowned. “We never met as children.”

Selene’s gaze softened further. “Are you sure?”

Celeste blinked, confused.

“You used to visit the estate, Celeste,” Selene continued. “Your mother brought you for charity luncheons. There was a little boy who always hid behind the greenhouse, watching you feed the stray cats.”

Lysander froze. His mind flashed—a hazy memory of sunlight, laughter, and a little girl with ribbons in her hair.

Celeste turned to him, stunned. “That was you?”

He let out a soft, disbelieving laugh. “You pulled my hair and called me a snob.”

Her lips parted. “You broke my doll’s arm!”

Selene chuckled quietly, tears filling her eyes. “And now you’re bound together again. Life has a cruel sense of irony, doesn’t it?”

Neither of them could answer. The memories once buried under layers of hate and betrayal were resurfacing like ghosts in the dark.

Finally, Celeste stepped closer to Selene. “Will you come with us? You can’t stay here—it’s too dangerous.”

Selene shook her head slowly. “My place is here for now. If I leave, they’ll know something’s wrong. But you—” she turned to Lysander “you have a chance to make it right.”

Lysander swallowed hard. “You’re still protecting them, even now?”

“I’m protecting you,” she said softly. “You and Celeste shouldn't waste what Evelina died for.”

She reached out, her hand trembling slightly, and cupped his cheek. “You’ve grown so much, my son. Stronger than your father and kinder than you know.”

He closed his eyes, fighting the sting of tears. “I thought you were gone.”

“I never stopped watching over you,” she whispered. “Not once.”

Celeste looked away, unable to hold back her own tears.

The storm outside began to ease, the thunder fading into a soft rumble. The air felt lighter, but the weight in their chests remained.

As they left the room, Selene’s voice drifted behind them—soft, fragile, and filled with both warning and hope.

“Don’t let the past decide your future. Let it guide you… but never chain you.”

Lysander paused at the doorway, glancing back one last time. His mother sat by the window again, framed by lightning’s pale glow, looking like the ghost of everything he’d lost and the promise of everything he could still save.