The next move is mine

ELENA'S POV

I'm in my office, reviewing documents, when Samantha storms in. She looks serious—almost hesitant, as if she doesn't want to be the one to say this.

Samantha: "Elena, you need to listen to me. It's about Lucian."

I frown, looking up from her work. Not this again

"Samantha, I already told—"

Samantha interrupts, sliding a printed article across the desk. It's an old business article, featuring a young Lucian at some exclusive event.

Samantha: "His name isn't Lucian Brown. It's Lucian Blackwood. He's one of them."

I froze. The words hit me like ice water down my spine. I stare at the name, then at the image. It's him. Same eyes. Same smirk. The man I've been growing closer to—falling for—has been lying to me from the very beginning.

The paper trembled in my grip. Lucian… a Blackwood? The same family that had spent years trying to destroy everything my father built? The same family Lucian was helping me to bring down?

I felt very sick.

No. No, this has to be a mistake. He told me his family wasn't in business. He said he wanted nothing to do with corporate politics.

I look at Samantha, unable to form words.

Samantha gently says "I don't know what he's after, but you need to be careful, Elena. If he's a Blackwood, he has an agenda."

My hands tighten into fists. I don't want to believe it. But deep down, the small inconsistencies—the vague answers, the way he always seemed to know things before I told him—began to make sense.

There's only one way to find out the truth.

I storm into Lucian's office without knocking. He looks up, caught off guard.

Lucian: "Elena?"

I throw the article onto his desk, and say "Explain this."

His expression shifts—shock, then something unreadable. He stays silent for a moment too long.

"Say something. Tell me this is a mistake. Tell me you're not Lucian Blackwood. Tell me it's all a lie."

His silence is deafening.

My heart cracks.

My voice breaks as I say "I trusted you and you lied to me."

He finally speaks, his voice careful. "It's not what you think."

"Then tell me what it is, Lucian because right now, it looks like what it is. You played me." My voice cracked with disbelief. "You lied to me, Lucian!"

He leans forward, his expression desperate. "I didn't –Elena, I swear, I didn't come into your life to hurt you."

"Then why? Why did you lie about who you are?" I said.

Lucian exhales. "Elena, listen—"

"You lied about everything." I say.

He shakes his head. "Not everything," he said quietly.

"Then tell me the truth," I challenged. "All of it."

His silence stretched.

"Lucian."

He inhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. "It's complicated."

I clenched my fists. "No Lucian. It's simple. You're a Blackwood. You had every chance to tell me, but you didn't. Why?"

"Because I knew you'd never trust me if you found out who I am."

His words cut deeper than I expected.

"And you thought lying would help?"

"My reasons for coming into your life were not exactly my making," he said, his voice rough.

"Then what were they about?" I pressed.

Again, silence.

I took a step back, my heart pounding.

"If I didn't find out, would you have ever told me?"

"You won't even deny it?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to tell me you're not part of their plans to ruin me!" I say looking at him intently.

"Elena, it's not what it seems, I'm not exactly part of them."

I scoffed. "Forgive me if I don't believe you, considering I just found out you're one of them."

"Elena please, you know who I am—who I really am."

"Do I?" my voice broke.

Lucian took a step closer, his hands slightly raised, as if he wanted to reach for me but he knew he shouldn't. "Elena please."

I shook my head.

"I trusted you."

"Please leave my company and I don't want to see you again."

I turned and walked out.

Back in my office, I sat in my chair, staring blankly at the walls. My mind raced, trying to make sense of everything.

Lucian Blackwood.

The name repeated in my head like a cruel joke.

How had I not seen it? How had I let myself fall for someone who was tied and also a part of the very people trying to destroy me?

A knock at the door.

The door creaked open anyway.

"Elena?" Samantha's voice was cautious.

"Don't," I whispered. I can't deal with this right now."

She walked inside anyway. "You confronted him?"

I let out a shaky breath. "He admitted it."

Samantha frowned. "And?"

"He said he's not part of their plan, and someone is putting him up to this."

Her arms crossed. "Do you believe him?"

I didn't answer because I didn't know.

Lucian had lied. He had hidden the truth under a false identity. But when he looked at me in that office, there was something in his eyes—something desperate.

Was he telling the truth now? Or was it just another carefully crafted deception?

"I think I just made a terrible mistake," I muttered.

Samantha sat across from me. "You didn't make the mistake, Elena. He did."

Everything I knew, everything I felt—Lucian had shattered it.

And the worst part?

I wasn't sure I wanted to hate him or still believe in him.

Later that night, alone in my apartment, I sat with a glass of wine staring at the city lights.

Lucian's words haunted me.

"You know me, Elena. You know who I really am."

Did I?

My gut told me he was still hiding something. But what?

The conversation I had with Victoria Blackwood flashed in my head. What if she was one of them? She offered useful information but what if it was their plan to get to me and bring me down?

One thing was certain.

This wasn't over.

It just begun and the next move is mine.