MY REVENGE PARTNER BECAME MY OBSESSION

The First Strike

I woke up with a headache and the taste of last night still in my mouth.

For a second I didn’t know where I was. Then the clean white walls and the unfamiliar sheets reminded me. Lucian’s guest room. Not my bed. Not my life anymore.

I sat up slowly. My dress from yesterday was wrinkled on the chair. My phone was still face down on the nightstand where I left it. I didn’t turn it on.

There was a soft knock on the door.

“Come in.”

Lucian stepped inside holding a black dress on a hanger and a pair of simple black heels. He set them on the chair without looking at me too long.

“These should fit,” he said. “Shower’s free. We leave in forty minutes.”

I stared at the dress. “You just happen to have women’s clothes here?”

“I had them sent over this morning.” His voice was flat. “No more questions about it right now. Get ready.”

He left before I could push.

The dress was simple and fitted. It hit just above the knee. The heels were the right size. I didn’t ask how he knew. I didn’t want to know yet.

When I came out of the bathroom, Lucian was waiting by the door in a dark suit. He looked ordinary at first glance. Then you noticed the way he stood, like nothing in the room could touch him.

We didn’t speak much on the way down to the car.

The drive to the Harrington dinner was quiet at first. The city lights moved across his face. I could feel the tension sitting between us like a third person.

After a few minutes he spoke without looking at me.

“How far are you willing to go tonight?”

I kept my eyes on the road. “As far as it takes.”

“Touching?”

“Yes.”

“Close enough that people talk?”

“Yes.”

He nodded once. “Good. Stay close to me the whole time. Don’t let either of them pull you away alone.”

“I wasn’t planning to.”

Another stretch of silence. Then he said, quieter, “If I put my hand on you, don’t flinch. It has to look real.”

I turned my head and looked at him. “I won’t flinch.”

Something in his jaw tightened, but he didn’t say anything else.

The Harrington house was already full when we arrived. Lights, music, expensive laughter. The kind of party I used to smile through for Ethan’s sake.

Lucian parked and came around to open my door. When I stepped out, he offered his arm. I took it.

We walked in together.

The first person who saw us stopped talking. Then another. Conversations dipped and picked back up with more interest. I felt eyes on us from every side.

Ethan and Sophia were near the bar. She looked perfect in red. He had his hand on her lower back like he had every right.

The second Ethan’s eyes landed on me, his face changed. The easy smile disappeared. Sophia followed his gaze. Her own smile froze for half a second before she forced it back into place.

Lucian’s hand settled on the small of my back, warm and steady. He leaned down slightly so only I could hear him.

“Breathe. And look at me like you want to be here.”

I turned my face up to his and let a small smile curve my mouth. His eyes dropped to my lips for a fraction of a second. Then he looked away like it meant nothing.

We moved through the room slowly. He kept me close. Every time someone greeted us, his hand stayed where it was. Sometimes his thumb moved in a slow, deliberate stroke against my dress. It was light enough that no one else would notice. I felt every single one.

Ethan watched us the whole time.

Halfway through the evening he finally walked over. Sophia stayed a few steps behind him, smiling too brightly.

“Elena,” Ethan said, voice low and tight. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

I didn’t move away from Lucian. “We’re in the middle of a conversation.”

Ethan’s eyes flicked to Lucian’s hand on my back. “It won’t take long.”

“I’m busy.”

Sophia stepped closer, still smiling. “Elena, don’t be like this. We’re all adults. We can talk—”

I looked at her directly. My voice stayed calm and clear enough for the people nearby to hear.

“Don’t speak to me like we’re still friends. We’re not.”

Her smile cracked. A few heads turned. Sophia’s cheeks flushed. She opened her mouth, then closed it again.

Ethan grabbed my wrist. “Outside. Now.”

Lucian’s hand left my back and settled on Ethan’s forearm. He didn’t grip hard. He didn’t need to. His voice was quiet and cold.

“Let go of her.”

Ethan stared at him. For a second I thought he might swing. Then he dropped my wrist and stepped back, jaw clenched so tight a muscle jumped.

Lucian’s hand returned to my back like nothing had happened. He guided me away toward the other side of the room.

We didn’t speak for a while. He got me a glass of wine I didn’t drink. Every time someone approached, he answered for both of us with short, polite words. His body stayed angled toward mine, close enough that I could feel the heat of him.

Later, when the party was loudest, he leaned in again.

“Balcony. Now.”

I followed him through the glass doors. The night air was cooler. The city lights stretched out below us. No one else was out there.

Lucian walked me to the far end where the wall blocked most of the view from inside. He stopped and turned to face me. For a moment we just looked at each other.

Then he stepped closer.

One hand settled on my waist. The other braced on the wall beside my head. He wasn’t touching me fully yet, but the space between us disappeared.

“This is still the plan,” he said, voice low. “Nothing more.”

I could feel his breath on my mouth. “I know.”

His eyes dropped to my lips again. The hand on my waist tightened just slightly.

“Then why does it feel like I’m about to cross a line I can’t take back?”

I didn’t answer. My heart was beating too hard. The anger from last night, the humiliation, the cold decision I had made, all of it mixed with the heat of his body so close to mine.

Lucian leaned in another inch. My back pressed against the wall. His mouth was almost on mine. I could already feel the shape of the kiss that was coming.

A voice cut through the dark.

“What the f**k do you think you’re doing with my wife?”

Ethan stood in the doorway of the balcony, fists clenched at his sides, eyes locked on us.