The First Humiliation
1177 Words
Lyana unlocked the apartment door with a sharp twist of her wrist, pushing it open without glancing back at the man following her. Her movements were tense, clipped, irritated—as if every second spent with him drained her patience.
“Don’t touch anything,” she ordered coldly as she stepped inside.
Zian paused at the threshold, taking in the space—modern, minimalistic, pristine. Not a single item out of place. It smelled faintly of lavender and sterilized emptiness. A home meant for perfection… not for chaos like him.
“You’re only here until the baby is born,” she added, tossing her keys onto the counter. They clattered loudly, echoing her agitation.
“That’s fine,” Zian answered quietly.
“No.” She turned sharply, her dark eyes flashing like storm clouds. “Nothing about this is fine. Nothing about this is normal.”
He said nothing.
Lyana’s hand curled protectively over her stomach. “My lover should be here,” she said, voice tightening. “Not you.”
Zian swallowed. The words tasted like shards of glass.
“He didn’t want the scandal,” he murmured. “I understand.”
Lyana let out a bitter laugh—too sharp, too broken. “Understand? Of course you do.” Her gaze swept over him, mocking. “You’re a nobody. A man discarded by his own family. Of course you’d accept scraps.”
The words weren’t just cruel—they were intentional. Designed to push him back, keep him distant, make him remember his place.
Zian didn’t argue.
He stepped inside, lifting the grocery bags she had dropped earlier at the doorway. Glass bottles clinked softly inside as he carried them to the kitchen counter.
Lyana hesitated.
Her eyes followed him—not with gratitude, but confusion. And something else. Something more fragile.
“Why are you acting like this?” she asked quietly.
Zian didn’t turn to look at her. “Like what?”
“Calm,” she whispered. “You’re calm. I insulted you. I humiliated you. And you’re… calm.”
He placed the bags down gently. “Because someone in this house should be.”
Lyana’s breath hitched—just slightly.
The first crack in her armor.
She opened her mouth to retort, but a sudden sharp pain sliced through her abdomen.
She gasped, gripping the wall. “Ah—!”
Zian spun around, eyes widening. “Lyana?”
She doubled over, one hand clutching her belly, the other bracing against the wall. Panic flashed across her face—raw and unmasked.
“The baby…” she whispered. “It hurts—Zian—something’s wrong—”
He didn’t think.
He moved.
Instinct overrode logic, fear, or permission. He caught her before she slid to the floor, supporting her weight as she trembled. Her breath came in short, ragged bursts.
“Put me down—” she tried to snarl, but the pain strangled her voice.
“I’m not letting you fall,” he said firmly.
His hands—one on her waist, one on her arm—felt unbearably warm. Too warm. Heat traveled through his veins like liquid fire, pulsing with alarming strength.
The lights flickered as though sensing something.
Zian’s heart pounded. “Lyana, look at me. What hurts?”
“All of it,” she gasped, teeth clenched. “It feels like—like the baby is—draining me—”
He pulled her closer instinctively, supporting her trembling frame.
And then—
The heat inside him surged.
Not outward… but through her.
Lyana jerked, eyes widening in shock. A soft golden glow flickered under Zian’s hands, subtle but unmistakable. Her breathing steadied—slowly at first, then suddenly—like a wave of relief washed through her.
She stared at him. Her pain seeped away as fast as it had come.
Zian didn’t notice the glow—not fully. He only noticed that she finally relaxed against him, her forehead brushing his shoulder, her breath steadying against his chest.
When she spoke again, her voice was small.
“What… what did you just do?”
Zian blinked, stunned. “I don’t—I don’t know.”
“No,” Lyana whispered, pulling away abruptly. “No, something happened. I felt something. What was that?”
Zian stepped back, shaken. “I swear, I don’t know.”
But he couldn’t deny the sensation humming beneath his skin. A warmth that wasn’t natural. A rhythm that wasn’t his. A strange surge that pulsed like a heartbeat beneath the surface.
Lyana stared at him as though seeing him for the first time.
“You touched me,” she whispered. “And the pain stopped.”
“It’s coincidence,” he insisted. He wanted to believe it. Needed to believe it.
“Coincidence?” she echoed, shaking her head. “No. No… there was light. I saw it.”
Zian inhaled sharply. “Light?”
She pressed a hand to her abdomen, her expression twisted with confusion. “Zian… why did your hands glow?”
“My hands didn’t glow,” he said quickly—even though doubt crept into his voice.
Lyana took a step back.
Her eyes narrowed. “Who are you? Really?”
Zian’s breath caught. He wished he had an answer. He’d spent years wondering the same thing.
“I’m just a man trying to help,” he whispered.
Lyana shook her head vigorously. “No. No, that’s not true. There’s something wrong with you. Something… unnatural.”
Zian felt something twist inside him.
Wrong.
Unnatural.
Words he’d heard before. From his family. From strangers. From the world.
But hearing them from his wife—even a temporary wife—hurt more than he was prepared for.
“I won’t hurt you,” he said quietly.
“How can you promise that,” Lyana demanded, “when you don’t even know what you are?”
Zian opened his mouth—
but no sound came out.
Before either could speak again, the overhead lights flickered violently, buzzing in a high-pitched whine. Lyana froze, eyes widening as the bulbs pulsed with unnatural rhythm—matching the thundering beat inside Zian’s chest.
“Not again…” he whispered, clutching his sternum.
This time Lyana saw it.
The outline of gold—faint but unmistakable—flashed in his irises.
She stumbled backward, hitting the wall behind her. “Zian—your eyes—”
He squeezed them shut, shaking his head. “I don’t—!”
But the light pulsed harder.
The apartment hummed with energy.
And Lyana whispered the question that would change their lives forever—
“What are you?”
Zian gasped—
And the glow vanished.
He blinked rapidly—normal again. Human again.
Lyana stared at him, breathless, horrified, and impossibly intrigued.
Her voice trembled. “Zian… did you just heal me?”
Zian could only whisper one answer.
“I don’t know.”
But deep inside, something ancient stirred in agreement.
Cliffhanger: A hidden power awakened… and Lyana felt it.
- Writer
