Theron Kaelin's jaw was tight as he stared down at his phone. He pressed the phone to his ear, pacing behind his desk like a caged lion.
He hadn't even sat down since the news reached him.
Cordelia Ruxin was back in the country. And Arvid hadn't said a damn thing.
The line clicked.
"Theron," Arvid Ruxin answered smoothly.
"You didn't think I should be informed?" Theron said, skipping any form of greeting. His tone was sharp, measured, but there was no mistaking the edge in it. "Cordelia returns, and I find out through someone else?"
There was a pause. Then, the sound of light, practiced laughter.
"I was wondering when I'd hear from you," Arvid replied, unbothered. "It's good to know you're still well-informed."
"I shouldn't have to hear it from my sources," Theron snapped. This isn't about pride, though it very much was. "The engagement between our families was agreed upon years ago. You think her return isn't relevant?"
"I thought it best they meet again without pressure," Arvid said, voice aloof. "Time changes people. They were children then."
Theron's mouth twitched at the corners. He turned toward the rain-blurred window. "They'll meet."
"Yes," Arvid said, "and perhaps something still lives between them. Or something new might grow." What youngster says nowadays? Oh yeah, love!
There it was...that something in Arvid's voice. Carefully testing the water, like a man playing chess, watching the board shift before he made his move.
Theron heard it, but didn't bite. Arvid wasn't just thinking of old alliances.
He's watching someone else. Probably that Moreaux man, a fine bachelor.
Lucien Malric Moreaux. The new giant in the business world. Untouchable, elusive. A ghost in shadow with a crown. Theron had read the profiles, seen the headlines, watched from a distance. The young CEO had become a sensation.
A man like that was a prize, and Arvid had a daughter to marry off.
But Arvid was too calculating to say it outright. He wouldn't risk insulting the Kaelins. At least not yet. Both of their families are same in power strength.
Theron straightened his shoulders. "Cordelia's smart," he said. "If she still suits the Kaelin family, the match will go forward. As planned."
"Of course," Arvid said mildly. "Let's give them space to talk. That's all I want."
The call ended shortly after, smooth, polite, like a conversation between two old snakes sharing a sun-warmed rock.
Theron set the phone down slowly.
Lucien Kaelin. The name echoed bitterly in his chest.
That ungrateful boy. Thrown out years ago, he disowned him, told never to use the Kaelin name again. Theron had believed he was doing the right thing—discipline, tough love, whatever you wanted to call it. He expected the boy would crawl back eventually, beg for forgiveness.
But he never had. Theron hadn't heard from him in years untill few days back.
He didn't know where he lived, what he did, whether he'd fallen or survived
But now… now it was time.
Cordelia was back. The engagement stood. And Theron needed power more than he needed pride. The Ruxins were strong. And together? They could be something more.
Lucien Kaelin needed to return home. He need to fulfil his duty as a son!
Theron didn't care how. Drag him back if he had to. That boy owed the Kaelin name. The marriage could fix the rest.
That useless son needs to start serving his purpose.
He poured himself a glass of scotch and sat down heavily in his chair, unaware of the irony unraveling beneath his plans.
Because Lucien Kaelin, his discarded son was no longer living in anyone's shadow.
He is now Lucien Malric Moreaux. And neither Ruxin nor Kaelin had a clue.
---
Theron's knuckles were white around the glass as he made the next call. His lips twisted into something that might've once been a smirk, now more of a sneer pulled taut with age and disappointment.
The line rang.
Twice.
Three times.
He clenched his jaw—until finally, it connected.
---
Lucien POV:
I was lying on the couch, still damp from the shower. The rain outside hadn't stopped, and neither had the ache beneath my ribs. The kind that came from mental exhaustion.
My phone buzzed once.
Theron Kaelin.
I let it ring.
It buzzed again.
Persistent bastard.
I stared at the screen, the name burning a hole through it, and finally, I picked up.
The silence was deliciously uncomfortable.
Then came the growl.
"Lucien! Why the hell didn't you pick up sooner?"
I didn't flinch. Just stared up at the ceiling.
"Why did you call, Mr. Theron Kaelin?"
There was a pause. A perfect, stunned silence. Like he'd taken a bullet right through the pride.
Then he hissed:
"I'm your father."
I smiled, slowly.
"Oh? That's funny. I seem to recall my father died when I was seven. Said I wasn't fit to carry his name, remember? Funeral was quiet, but freeing."
The line crackled. He tried to steady his voice, but the heat slipped through.
"Listen to me, Lucien—"
"No," I cut in coldly. "You listen. You made your choice years ago. You made sure the whole world knew I was nothing. That I'd never be anything. Don't crawl back now, dressed in fatherly concern. It doesn't suit you."
He shifted tactics like the snake he was.
"Enough of this nonsense. You have to come back to the Kaelin family."
I snorted, grabbing the towel draped over my neck.
"And why would I ever do that?"
"Because if you want your mother's ashes, you'll show up tomorrow."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
His voice was calm.
"Her urn is still in the Kaelin ancestral hall. Locked up. Safe for now, but I can't guarantee if you don't show up."
A beat of silence stretched, then he added, cruelly casual:
If you don't come by noon, I'll scatter her ashes at the back of the industrial waste yard. Maybe the dogs there will show more loyalty than you ever did."
The room dropped ten degrees.
"You dare," I said, my voice low and lethal. Even through the line, I knew he felt it.
For the first time, Theron hesitated.
"I'm only asking for what's right," he said, but the arrogance faltered just enough.
"Come tomorrow. There are things we need to discuss. Important things. You've to look presentable."
The call ended.
I stared at the dead screen for a long moment, fingers twitching at my sides.
He touched her ashes. He threatened to destroy the last part of her Lucien had.
He thinks I'm still that lost, broken boy with empty pockets and no voice.
Fine. Let him think that.
Don't worry Lucien, the pain you'd to endured, I will give back the pain ten fold. You can rest assured. Since I'm you now, your mom is my mom too. I said looking at the distant watchtower.
And I'll burn the Kaelin house to ash if I have to take her back.
---