CHAPTER 4: PEOPLE'S PROPERTIES
1178 Words
"Wife."
The word rolled off Lucas’s tongue like venom, leaving a bitter taste behind. His grip on Scarlett’s wrist loosened, but his fingers lingered for just a second longer than necessary. His touch burned—too warm, too familiar, too much like a past she had buried.
Scarlett jerked her hand back as if his touch had seared her skin, her chin lifting in defiance.
“Do I need permission for that?” Her voice was sharp, cutting, but the slight tremor in her fingers betrayed her.
Lucas let out a low, humorless chuckle, his gaze darkening with an unreadable pain. “You made a fool of me without considering my presence.”
Scarlett’s lips curled in a smirk, but there was no real amusement in it.
“You’re mistaken, Lucas. I wasn’t considering you at all.”
The words struck like a blade, but Lucas didn't flinch. Instead, he studied her, the tightness in her jaw.
The guard flickered in her eyes. The way she squared her shoulders, as if bracing for battle.
A slow exhalation left his lips, his expression unreadable, but something in his stance shifted. “Is that so?”
Before Scarlett could respond, she felt Alexander step closer behind her. He didn’t touch her, didn’t interrupt, but his nearness was a statement.
Lucas’s gaze flicked to him, then back to Scarlett, his jaw tightening.
Scarlett swallowed hard, forcing herself to hold his gaze. She had expected anger. She had expected resentment.
But this unreadable depth in his eyes made her feel uneasy.
She wasn’t sure if she was the one who had left the past behind… or if the past had never really left her at all.
Lucas smirked, but there was nothing amusing about it. It was the kind of smile that masked something raw, something he didn’t want to name.
He tilted his head slightly, his voice dropping to a murmur laced with mockery.
"So this is the reason you left without taking a dime..."
Scarlett’s breath hitched, but she didn’t let it show. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest, meeting his gaze with cold defiance.
"Is that what you think?"
Lucas let out a soft chuckle, but it held no humor. "Common relationships have issues, Scarlett.
But what did you do? You ran. And got married again."
The accusation sliced through her like a blade.
She had been prepared for his anger. She had even braced for his resentment.
But the quiet ache beneath his words? She wasn’t ready for that.
Scarlett stiffened, her nails digging into her palm.
"You don’t get to say that."
Lucas took a step closer. "Don’t I?" His voice was low, dangerous. "You didn’t just leave me, Scarlett." You erased me."
Her throat tightened. You don’t know what you’re talking about.
Lucas scoffed at her silence. "You were my wife—"
"And you were a liar!" Scarlett snapped. Her voice cracked slightly, but she ignored it.
"You slept around, Lucas! Did you ever put my feelings into consideration?"
Lucas’s expression faltered—just for a second.
A flicker of something in his eyes. Guilt? Regret? It was gone before she could decipher it.
He exhaled sharply, brushing a hand through his hair in frustration. "You really think I—"
Scarlett shook her head, swallowing the lump in her throat. "It doesn’t matter what I think anymore."
Lucas went still. And for the briefest moment, but the past was done. And Scarlett wasn’t about to let it drag her under again.
She lifted her chin. "We’re over, Lucas. We have been for a long time."
Lucas’s jaw tightened, but before he could respond, a new voice cut through the tension.
"Enough."
Alexander’s voice sliced through the charged air, cutting off whatever Lucas had been about to say.
He stepped forward, positioning himself between Scarlett and the man who had once broken her.
Scarlett felt the warmth of his hand as it settled on her waist, a silent but unmistakable claim. It wasn’t just a touch; it was a statement. A warning.
Lucas’s gaze flickered to where Alexander held her, his expression darkening.
His jaw clenched, his fingers twitching at his sides like he was barely restraining himself.
Alexander’s eyes remained cold."Don’t ever try to touch my wife again."
Lucas let out a low, humorless chuckle, shaking his head slightly.
"Your wife, huh?" His voice was laced with something dangerous. "Is that what she is to you? A possession?"
Alexander didn’t flinch. His fingers tightened ever so slightly on her waist before he spoke, his tone unwavering. "She is mine. And I won’t say it again."
Lucas let out a slow exhale, but the storm in his eyes didn’t settle. He tilted his head, studying Alexander like a man weighing his options.
Scarlett could feel the tension thickening between them, two powerful men standing toe to toe, both unwilling to back down.
She opened her mouth to say something, to diffuse whatever this was turning into but Lucas spoke first.
"Funny." His smirk was slow, lethal. "You think because you put a ring on her finger, you can erase me?"
Alexander’s expression didn’t change. "I don’t need to erase you. You were never a threat to begin with."
Scarlett barely had time to register the flicker of fury in Lucas’s eyes before he took a step closer.
The air shifted.
Lucas moved first.
His fingers curled into Alexander’s collar, yanking him forward with a force that sent a ripple of tension through the room.
The air crackled—hot, charged, ready to ignite.
"Stealing people’s property and calling them yours?" Lucas’s voice was low, venomous.
His knuckles whitened as he tightened his grip.
A deadly silence fell.
Scarlett’s breath caught in her throat. She had seen Lucas angry before, but this was something else.
Alexander didn’t flinch. Didn’t so much as blink. His posture remained composed, his expression unreadable, but Scarlett could feel the quiet, lethal rage rolling off him.
In a single swift motion, Alexander shoved Lucas back.
The force sent Lucas stumbling a step, but he caught himself, jaw clenching. His eyes burned with something raw, something dangerous.
Scarlett felt the moment slipping and spiraling before either of them could stop it.
"Please stop!" Her voice rang out, desperate, cracking under the weight of too much emotion.
Neither man listened.
Lucas lunged. The first blow landed with a sickening crack—fist meeting jaw.
Alexander staggered, then countered. His own punch slammed into Lucas’s ribs, sending him back with a grunt.
Scarlett’s heart pounded.
"Stop it!" She pushed forward, grabbing Lucas’s arm, then reaching for Alexander.
"This isn’t—"
Too late.
A second blow.
The impact. The sound. The split second where time seemed to pause.
Lucas staggered back, his hand flying to his side, his fingers pressing against his ribs where Alexander’s final hit had landed.
But his expression wasn’t just pain. It was something deeper.
He launched back in full attack to Alexander.
Scarlett’s stomach dropped.
"Lucas—"
But it was already too late before she intervened.
- Writer
