Chapter 264

Serena's POV

I stepped out of the Detention Complex, taking a deep breath of the crisp autumn air. Though Lucas's words had given me some reassurance, I couldn't completely shake off the weight pressing down on my chest. Some emotions remained stuck in my throat, neither rising nor falling.

The setting sun cast long shadows across the concrete steps as I made my way toward my car. That's when I spotted a familiar figure-Rachel Thorne. She hadn't appeared in public since Lucas's arrest, and the Thorne family had claimed she was bedridden from the emotional shock. While she wasn't actually ill, the toll was evident in her ghastly pale complexion and the dark circles under her eyes.

I couldn't help but wonder why she had chosen to visit Lucas here in Manhattan when she hadn't bothered to see him in Portland. Was it her family's interference that had kept her away? Despite my curiosity, I had no desire to engage with her and attempted to walk past without acknowledgment.

"Serena," she called out, her voice sharp with hostility.

I paused, keeping my expression neutral. "Yes?"

"You came to see Lucas?" The question carried an accusatory edge.

"Is there a problem with that?"

"What right do you have to see him?" Her composure cracked, voice rising with each word. Several passersby turned to look, but she seemed beyond caring about the attention.

I maintained my calm demeanor, though my heart was racing. "Your engagement has been dissolved. Lucas is free to choose who he sees. I don't need your permission."

"How dare you show your face here after what you've done to him?" Rachel's hands were trembling now, her designer purse clutched so tightly her knuckles had turned white. "You're the reason he's in this situation!"

I pressed my lips together, her words striking deeper than I wanted to admit. The guilt I'd been trying to suppress threatened to surface. The evening traffic created a constant background hum, filling the momentary silence between us.

"Lucas deliberately committed those financial violations, didn't he?" Rachel's voice took on a hysterical edge. "He orchestrated everything just to force my family to break off the engagement! He chose potential imprisonment over marrying me!" Her carefully maintained facade was crumbling, revealing the raw pain beneath.

I took a slow breath, choosing my words carefully. "Whatever decisions Lucas made regarding your engagement are between you and him. If you want answers, you should ask him directly."

"You don't understand anything!" Rachel stepped closer, her perfume overwhelming in its intensity. "He was different before you came along. We had everything planned-our future, our life together. Then you appeared, and suddenly nothing I did was good enough anymore."

"Rachel-" I started, but she cut me off.

"You think you've won?" Her laugh was brittle, bordering on manic. "This isn't over, Serena. If anything happens to Lucas in there, I'll make sure you pay the price. The Thorne family has a long memory, and we don't forgive easily."

She turned on her heel and stormed off, leaving me standing alone on the sidewalk. I watched her retreating figure, understanding with perfect clarity the truth of the situation: Rachel's feelings for Lucas were genuine, but her family's priorities lay elsewhere. The moment Lucas became a liability rather than an asset, they had discarded both him and Rachel's happiness without hesitation.

Rachel's POV

I stood there, feeling the burning sensation in my eyes as tears threatened to fall, staring directly at Lucas. He was right in front of me, yet he seemed so distant, his face a mask of cold indifference.

"Is she worth all this, Lucas? Is Serena really worth it?" The words escaped my lips before I could stop them, my heart twisting like a knife in my chest.

"This has nothing to do with her," he replied coldly. "It's just... circumstances beyond my control."

"I know you're doing this for her." My voice was filled with certainty. I knew him too well-every subtle change in his expression, every nuance in his voice.

"I wouldn't gamble with my life so carelessly." He continued his denial.

"You'd throw away your life for Serena without a second thought!" The words burst from me, almost a scream.

He chose silence. That silence hurt more than any words could have.

I found myself laughing, a bitter laugh that dissolved into tears. I must have looked insane, but I couldn't control myself anymore.

"Lucas, did you know? I'm getting married again." As I said these words, I noticed his eyes flicker slightly. Finally, a crack in his emotionless facade.

"That's how it is in the Thorne family," I continued, my voice trembling. "We're all just pawns from the moment we're born. Me, my parents, my brother-all of us." The tears kept falling, but I felt numb to them now. "And I always thought I was the lucky one. In a family where we have no freedom, where we can't choose who we marry, I thought I was blessed because the man I was supposed to marry was the man I loved."

He maintained that cold, distant stare, offering no response.

I couldn't hold back anymore: "I thought it wouldn't matter if you didn't love me back. As long as we were married, as long as you were by my side, I could be content. But why... why did you do this to me? Lucas, what's wrong with me? How am I inferior to Serena? I knew you before she did, I've been by your side longer than she has, I love you more than she ever could. Why can't you love me? Why won't you even look at me properly?"

My voice grew more desperate with each word. From the moment they took him away, I'd wanted to see him, to demand answers. But my family kept me under close watch, refusing to let me leave. Only when I agreed to marry another man did my grandfather allow me this visit. That was the price I paid to see him.

"I'm sorry." Three words, delivered with the same icy detachment.

I looked at him with a bitter smile: "Lucas, you'd rather face death than marry me. Well, I can use the same determination to make you pay."

His expression suddenly turned even colder. "I strongly advise against that."

"You pushed me to this!"

"If you want to survive in the Thorne family, you'll stay out of this." His words carried a clear threat.

"And if I refuse?"

"You'll face consequences far worse than your current situation."

"You think you can threaten me?" I said with biting sarcasm. "Lucas, not marrying me was your biggest mistake. Once you rejected the Thorne family's protection, you became nothing. And all those people you're trying to protect? They'll suffer right along with you."

"Rachel, think very carefully about your next move." His face darkened dangerously.

I noticed it then-how he, who had always been indifferent to me, showed such reaction at the mere suggestion of harm to Serena. The realization cut through me like a blade.

"I'll make you regret this, deeply." I smiled cruelly, wiped my tears, and turned to leave.

I could feel his cold gaze following me as I walked away, could imagine his clenched fists. But I didn't care anymore. Since he chose to hurt me, I would make sure he experienced the same heartbreak.