My Norms

LUCIAN'S POV

The air in the boardroom was as frigid as my father's glare, cutting through the strained silence.

"Lucian." He growled, "you disgraced the Blackwood name for the last time."

I was used to this statement but something was different this time. I held my breath, bracing for the inevitable. My older brother Damon stood behind our father, a satisfied smirk which irritated me etched on his face. His eyes gleamed with malice…. He always did relish on my failures and shortcomings.

"You will leave this company with nothing" For a minute I can't seem to breathe well, my lungs feel empty because how do I survive with nothing. "Unless…." Dad's cold voice cut through my train of thoughts.

He paused, allowing the word to hang in the air like a noose around my neck.

Unless he repeated with a smile I dreaded and then proceeds to his desk and slides a file across the desk and says infiltrate the life of Elena Hart, you will get close to her, earn her trust, and when the time is right, you will destroy her. "Ruin her reputation, take everything she holds dear, and make sure she never sees it coming". His voices hardened. Do whatever it takes. But don't forget she's nothing more than a pawn in this game. And if you fail me again trust me you won't have a place to come back to nor a family.

I shift uncomfortably and ask "Elena Hart" I repeated trying to connect the dots. Who is she and why am I supposed to infiltrate her life and what do I accomplish by doing so?

My father proceeds to sit down, his gaze never unwavering from mine. " Miss Hart recently inherited her father's company… "A rather unexpected development if you ask me but she holds something that belongs to us, something we must retrieve at all costs."

" And if I succeed?" I ask even though I know the answer already.

 If you succeed my father said as his eyes glistened with a sinister look, you'll be welcomed back into the fold and you'd have a chance of being my heir. The last part was met with a snicker from Damon and my mother as Damon says " He fails at everything and as always he'd fail with this too". I swallow hard as my father's eyes hardened like a shuttered window on a winter night. " If you fail," he growled, his voice a low rumble, you'll be outcast from the Blackwood name. You will have nothing, not even your dignity. And mark my words, Lucian… Failure is out of the question.

He dismissed me with a wave of his hand, and I rose from my seat gripping the file tightly. The weight of the task bore down on me like an avalanche, threatening to bury me alive.

 As I strode through the cold, marble halls of Blackwood Industries, the file in my hand getting heavier with each step. I passed the imposing portraits of my grandfather and great grand father, their eyes seemed to follow me, judging me for my weakness and for my failure.

I paused before the massive glass doors that marked the exit, taking a deep breath to steady myself. Beyond these doors, a new challenge that determines my future awaits…. Elena Hart. But as I stepped outside, my gaze fell on a figure leaning on my car, Damon, how did he get down so fast oh I forgot I took the stairs, he probably took the lift. His voice jolts me out of my thoughts. "Well, well little brother", he drawled. " Back in daddy's good book are we? That must feel nice after all these years of being the family disappointment".

I clench my fists but as always I kept my face unreadable so I don't show him how I scared I am. " Spare me the theatrics, Damon. I don't have the time for this."

 Damon pushed off the wall, stepping into my path. "Oh but you do. Because I need to know just how far you're willing to go for this little redemption arc of yours. Our dear father just handed you a task we both know is way out of your league. Elena Hart isn't as naive or should I say as dumb as you are. She'll see right through you". His smirk deepened. " And when she does it''ll be fun to watch you burning.

My jaw tightens. "You sound worried. Afraid I might succeed?"

Damon let out a short laugh, dark and sharp.

"Hardly. I just don't want you screwing this up before I get what I want." He steps closer lowering his voice." And make no mistake Lucian, I'll get what I want whether you succeed or fail, Elena Hart is going down. And if you get in my way, so will you."

I meet his gaze, his expression ice-cold. "You always like to play dirty Damon. But this time? I'm not going down so easily".

Damon tilted his head, amusement flickering in his eyes. " we'll see about that little brother". He patted my shoulder holding on a little too tight and walks away.

I stand beside my car with a storm brewing inside my chest. I decide to take a walk to a bar down the road to sort my thoughts.

As I made my way through the busy streets, the noise and the bustle of the city faded into a muffed hum in the back of my mind. One name echoes in my thoughts, a name that would determine my future: Elena Hart.

As I step into the bar, it's unusually quiet but it's what I need to sort my thoughts and I try to remember a few details about Elena I had studied in the boardroom but my brain fails to so I open the file again and begin to study her life, preparing to insert myself into it.

"Destroy her trust and have your way back" I had no choice. I would do it.