Bella laughed.
It came out wrong—thin, sharp, like a sound dragged through glass—but it was still a laugh, because the alternative was letting Lucian's words seep into her bones.
Used.
By Cassie.
By Alan.
Absurd.
Bella lifted her chin, forcing her expression into something colder than she felt. "You're delusional."
Lucian's gaze didn't shift. "I'm not."
Bella took a step closer, anger returning like a familiar shield. "Cassie is my best friend. She's been there for me when you don't even know what my voice sounds like when I'm not screaming at you."
A muscle jumped in Lucian's jaw.
Bella saw it and pressed harder, because anger was the only thing that made her feel like herself.
"You married me without asking," she continued, voice rising. "You cut my phone. You drag me into a house I've never been in and tell me what I'm allowed to do—then you have the nerve to call Cassie dangerous? You're the danger, Lucian."
Lucian stood very still.
For a moment Bella thought he might snap, and some part of her wanted him to. If he yelled, if he got cruel, if he proved her right, it would make hating him easy.
Instead he spoke quietly, like every word had weight.
"You're angry at the wrong person."
Bella blinked.
The calmness in his voice made something in her chest tighten. It was easier to fight a man who fought back. It was harder to fight someone who looked at her like he was trying to keep her from stepping into traffic.
Bella's hands curled. "Stop talking like you're saving me."
Lucian's eyes darkened. "I'm trying to keep you alive."
Bella scoffed. "Alive. There you go again with the drama."
Lucian's gaze sharpened, and for the first time his control slipped just enough for Bella to see the edge underneath.
"This isn't drama," he said, voice lower. "This is what happens when you trust the wrong people."
Bella's throat tightened. "You don't know them."
Lucian didn't answer immediately.
He looked at Bella's face like he was trying to find the right way to say what he wanted to.
Then he said, "You don't even know yourself anymore."
Bella froze. She swallowed, so furious that her eyes stung.
"You don't get to tell me who I am," Bella whispered.
Lucian's voice softened slightly, almost against his will. "Then show me."
Bella stared at him.
Lucian continued, "If you're not being used, if you're not being pushed and pulled like a toy, then you can stand on your own. You can make one decision without Cassie's voice in your ear."
Bella's blood heated. "I don't need Cassie to make decisions."
Lucian held her gaze. "Prove it."
Bella's nails dug into her palms.
"Fine. Give me my phone signal back."
Lucian didn't move. "No."
Bella's laugh came out broken. "How do I 'prove it'?"
"You can prove it by not spiraling," Lucian said quietly. "By eating. Sleeping. Staying here. And not running to them the second you get the chance."
Bella's voice rose. "You want me to be a quiet wife."
Lucian's eyes flickered. "I want you to be alive."
Bella hated him for that line because it sounded like it came from somewhere honest. Because it sounded like her own voice of reason.
She turned away sharply, pacing to the window. Outside, the gates sat in the distance like an answer. Closed. Silent.
Bella pressed her forehead briefly to the glass.
She remembered her father in the courthouse, voice low, pleading in the car beforehand like he was bargaining with a storm.
You don't understand, Bella. People are destroying your reputation.
Bella had laughed then too. Bitter. Disbelieving.
My reputation? Dad, I'm not running for office. I'm in love.
Her father's hands had tightened around the steering wheel.
It's not about love, sweetheart. It's about how they'll use you. Lucian is the only one who can stop it.
Bella had looked at him like he'd lost his mind.
Lucian? The cold brother? The one who never smiles? The one who thinks he's better than everyone?
Her father had swallowed hard.
He's not trying to cage you. He's doing it because if he doesn't, someone else will.
Bella squeezed her eyes shut now.
Bull.
Her father always saw threats where there weren't any. He'd never understood how Cassie held Bella together when everything else felt like it was falling apart.
Bella turned back to Lucian, anger rekindling. "You think I should be grateful."
Lucian's gaze stayed steady. "No."
Bella blinked, thrown off. "Then what do you want?"
Lucian's answer came too fast, like it was the one thing he didn't have to calculate.
"I want you to stop chasing the people who enjoy watching you bleed."
Bella stared.
The words were too vivid. Too specific.
Bella's skin prickled.
Before she could respond, Lucian's phone buzzed.
He didn't glance away immediately. He watched Bella for one more beat, then pulled the phone from his pocket, checked the screen, and exhaled.
"There's an event tonight," he said.
Bella's heart kicked. "What?"
Lucian put the phone away. "At the Queen estate."
The world narrowed. The estate meant Cassie. It meant Alan.
It meant the life Bella was comfortable in.
She stepped forward without thinking. "You're going."
Lucian nodded once. "Yes."
Bella's voice came out too quick, too eager. "So I'm going too."
Lucian's gaze sharpened. "No."
The hope in Bella's chest slammed into rage so fast she almost choked on it.
"You can't do that," her voice a helpless whisper.
"I can," Lucian said, tone flat.
Bella's eyes burned. "Why are you telling me like it's a fact? Like I'm some—some thing you get to store away?"
Lucian's jaw flexed. "Because if I take you there, you'll run straight into their arms and by morning the entire city will have a new story about you."
Bella's stomach twisted.
She wanted to deny it. But she couldn't think of something to say.
Lucian watched her face and continued, voice low.
"You want to go?" he said. "Fine. You go with me. You stay with me. You don't disappear. You don't drink anything you didn't watch being made. And you don't let anyone pull you into a room alone."
Bella stared at him.
He was giving rules like he expected danger.
Bella's voice dropped. "You're paranoid."
Lucian's gaze didn't soften. "I'm prepared."
Bella's chest rose hard. "You're doing this to humiliate me."
Lucian's eyes flashed. "I'm doing this so everyone sees you're protected."
Protected.
Bella hated the word.
It sounded like weakness. Like she couldn't protect herself.
But the thought of seeing Cassie again… of hearing her voice, feeling her arms around Bella, hearing her tell Bella it was okay, it was temporary, Alan would fix it…
Bella swallowed.
"Fine," Bella said tightly. "I'll go. On your leash."
Lucian didn't react to her words. He just nodded once.
"Good," he said.
Then he turned toward the door.
"I'm sending people to get you ready," Lucian added.
Bella's spine snapped straight. "No."
Lucian paused. "Bella."
"Absolutely not," Bella said, voice rising. "I'm not a doll you dress up."
Lucian's gaze held hers, unyielding. "You're going into a room full of people who already have an opinion about you. You can fight it looking like last year's wreck, or you can walk in and make them shut up."
Bella's breath caught.
Last year's wreck.
The phrase hit too close to the thing Bella refused to think about: that Cassie had always loved Bella best when Bella looked broken.
Bella's mouth opened to argue.
Lucian turned and left before she could.
The door closed behind him.
Bella stood in the room, breathing hard, hands shaking with fury and… something else.
Anticipation.
She was going to the estate.
Tonight she would see Cassie.
She would see Alan.
Tonight, everything would start moving again.
A knock came at the door.
Bella whirled, ready to scream.
Two women entered carrying garment bags.
Bella's stomach dropped.
"No," she said, voice deadly.
"Mrs. Queen," one began carefully.
Bella saw red.
"Get out!" she screamed.
The women startled and backed away, but Bella was already moving, stalking toward them like a storm.
"I said get out!" Bella roared, slamming the door in their faces so hard the frame rattled.
Bella stood with her back against the door, chest heaving.
She looked around wildly.
Her gaze landed on the vanity.
On a pair of small scissors.
Bella grabbed them and turned to the closet, yanking it open.
There, hanging in the center, was a black gown sealed in a protective bag like it was precious.
Bella ripped it out and tore the bag open.
The dress spilled into her hands—heavy silk, dangerously beautiful.
Bella lifted the scissors.
One cut and Lucian couldn't parade her.
One cut and she could ruin his plan.
Her hand trembled. If she ruins it, she won't go.
And she won't get to see Cassie or Alan, they'll make the plans without her.
Bella's throat tightened.
Slowly, she lowered the scissors.
Her fingers loosened until the blades clattered onto the vanity.
Bella stared at the gown in her lap like it had betrayed her by being exactly what she needed.
Then, with a shaking breath, Bella unlocked the door and called down the hall, voice tight with humiliation.
"Come back."
The women returned cautiously, eyes wide.
Bella didn't look at them. She turned and held up the dress like surrender.
"Just… do it," she said.
They moved quickly after that.
Skincare. Makeup. Hair pulled sleek. No gothic drama. No chaotic edges.
Bella watched herself in the mirror as the girl she knew disappeared under polish.
When the black gown finally slid over her body, Bella stopped breathing for a second.
The style made her look elegant. Like a woman who belonged in expensive rooms, not the messy girl people whispered about.
Bella stared.
She didn't look like deranged anymore.
She looked like someone the angel might envy.
A soft knock.
Then Lucian stepped inside.
He went still when he saw her.
For a moment, the air between them tightened in a way that had nothing to do with anger.
Lucian's gaze moved over her slowly, controlled, like he was forcing himself to stay respectful when his instincts wanted something else.
Bella felt heat creep up her neck and hated it.
Lucian's voice came out low. "You look good."
Bella lifted her chin. "Don't."
Lucian's gaze sharpened. "Don't what?"
"Don't sound like you did me a favour" Bella snapped. "I'm going for Cassie."
Lucian's jaw flexed at the name.
He held out his hand anyway.
Bella stared at it for a beat too long.
Then she took it because she wanted out of this house more than she wanted her pride.
His palm was warm. Steady.
Bella told herself she didn't like it. She did.
The car ride felt endless.
Bella's knee bounced, nerves and excitement tangling together. She kept imagining Cassie's face, Cassie's squeal, Cassie's arms around her.
And Alan.
Alan seeing her like this. She would apologise.
The Queen estate rose ahead, lit like a jewel.
Music drifted into the night.
Cameras flashed.
They stepped out and Lucian's hand hovered near the small of her back, not touching her.
They entered.
And there she was.
Cassie, glowing in pale gold, laughing in the center of a circle like the world belonged to her.
Relief hit Bella so hard it almost made her dizzy.
Bella started forward instinctively.
Lucian's hand closed around her forearm.
"Stay," he murmured.
Bella swallowed and looked again.
Cassie's eyes lifted, her smile twitching before it dropped.
And then she smiled—bright, sweet, angelic—so perfectly that for half a second Bella's heart unclenched. But the gears were turning in her head because of Lucian's words, so she noticed.
The smile before and this one... It's too different.
It was something sharp.
Something calculating.
And Cassie began walking toward her. Bella's heart thumped in her chest, and for the first time, she was scared of Cassie.