To Ally With or Turn Against

His voice went from being kind to bewildered. When he noticed George standing in front of me, his voice faltered.

I did what I do best right now because I had no idea what else to do, so I waved my hands and smiled.

To take action.

"Hey, Lucas! Has Raven inquired about me?"

I said, "Then I will say my excuses to Sir George over here," but I didn't notice the edges of his mouth curving. With his hands crossed and his back resting against the chilly wall, he only nodded.

I turned to see George staring at Lucas as if they were speaking directly into each other's eyes.

I pretended to cough to get George's attention. Rather than speaking first, he burst out laughing.

"I see that you two are friends. It makes sense. I'm George, but I'm also friends with Lucas," he grinned and held out his hands.

His voice was warm and genuine, to the extent that I felt compelled to accept his extended hands.

I exhaled.

I grinned after that. I accepted his hands and turned to leave, waving and calling him by name.

However, he gave me his word that we would cross paths again and that this would not be our final meeting.

His figure vanished into the dimly lit corridors. Up until the sound of the metal clicking, all I could hear inside were the sounds of heavy footsteps. Lucas' hands on either side of my head were the last thing I saw before my surroundings spun and the gravity at which I stood became uneven.

He was still leaning, and I could feel the warmth of his breath against my shoulders and the flickering light in his eyes as they met.

His actions caused me to have a sudden wave of nostalgia, and all I could think about was his gorgeous golden hair.

"Scarlett, you are something I could never understand," he muttered in the dimly lit space. As soon as the sounds of two individuals breathing against one another, as though thirst had broken into their minds, filled my skin and reached every cold crevice of my heart, I gasped.

Lucas kept slanting until I heard him press his forehead on the door where my back was resting. His deep, hot breath against my shoulders made me gasp. Insane, infectious, and dangerous as it is, I felt as though a part of my spirit returned to who we had become five years before this plan.

He paused and said, "Scarlett, don't ever be surprised if I tell you this." He's not the only one thinking a lot in here, so I almost felt like yelling. I felt like I needed to find out more information as soon as I saw him with George.

Lucas didn't allow the space between our bodies to close until my phone rang in my purse.

"Before I say anything, you should check that," he said, turning his gaze from me to the bright side of the room, where an open balcony was. He did this by scratching the back of his neck. I noticed his eyes glimmering when the full moon's straggling silver rays caught them.

I glanced at my message, and it seemed as though the entire world had been with me since that evening.

Lusia

[Push 1 to view additional information; push 2 to remove it now and retrieve it later.]

I sighed and hit the 2 button.

I still have a few things to finish off this evening, so now is not the right moment.

But then a message appeared, and it was addressed to someone I hadn't anticipated to think of.

[Frenchester]: Three days later, you should come to my condo in person because I have information from the woman you asked for. [I couldn't just say some things over the phone.]

I grinned. Everything is unfolding exactly as I had hoped.

With a shrug, I returned the phone to my handbag, only to see Lucas was already positioned on the balcony's stool.

As I moved forward, I sensed this strong energy emanating from his back. I had the impression that I was in a field under a beautiful sun, even though it was nighttime.

"So, what topic did you wish to discuss?" While strolling next to him, I inquired.

He sighed, barely taking his eyes off the outside world, particularly the moon.

"Would you let Raven go if I told you he wasn't the best fit for you?" He questioned, finishing his sentence with a melancholy smile.

"This is it," he said, passing his phone to me and showing me images of the women Raven had been hanging out with. I pretended to feel hurt, even though I was supposed to be astonished.

Yes, I knew these women; in the past, he had them arranged to enrage Sophia. Even now, when I saw the woman who escorted him out of the gathering, it was his secretary, but I never bothered to mention it.

I swallowed.

I met his eyes, and my surroundings started to jumble. My lungs began to hurt, and then I felt Lucas envelop me in his body, as though he were shielding a little child from the terrible realities of life.

He doesn't see, though, that by doing this, he would make the young girl reliant on him constantly—something I never even intended to do.

"Are you really in love with Raven, Scarlett?" He enquired. I gave him a mournful grin, even though I knew it was only a make-believe expression.

But I felt like I wanted to be as honest as I could be with him for this instant, this fleeting moment.

I suppose that for the sake of seeing how this young man responds, I'm deluding not just myself but also my feelings for the evening.

I waited to give us enough room, and he happily accepted. As I said, "You know."

I don't know if I'm still smiling, but when I saw his gaze, I think the way my lips curled was still there. "I first met Raven five years ago," I uttered.

"It was a heavy rainstorm in the middle of the night. Back then, I was devastated and thought my entire world was collapsing, but he had just shown up and cleared my concerns." I paused and laughed, wiping my tears from my face. "He gave me new beginnings, and since then, I fell in love every second of every hour and day just to be with him."

"It may sound corny, but I think, as you mentioned, I fell in love with him without really understanding why; trust me, we were just fighting the morning after that incident." I laughed and turned to face him.

But all he could do was stare at me, as though he was seeing farther than he ought to. I gave him the phone he had given me while letting out another sigh.

"I want to know the boundaries of my love for him because I just don't know if it could change, but even if he managed to cheat on me, I still love him," I add, bending over his chest.

When I felt his hands encircling both of my arms, I could feel his heartbeat accelerating to the point where I could no longer even catch a glimpse of it.

"Then, Scarlett, never stop loving him; do so until the candle you lit goes out due to the darkness. I understand that it is not my place to speak, but you gave me hope in the power of love, and as a friend, I would do anything to support you."

I smirked silently.

I put my hands around his neck and spoke something in a whisper that momentarily stopped him cold.

"Then from now on, take my lead."

***

Frenchester remarked, "These are the documents you wanted to have."

Upon viewing the photos, I saw that a few of them were out of the ordinary, unlike the ones Sophia's friends had said she was. The images were shot both recently—in the last few months—and a year ago.

The Frenchester appeared to gasp and sigh at my reaction as I glanced at him. Leaning on his back, he uncrossed his arms over his chest and relaxed a little.

"I know you really love to stalk the woman, but I love doing that to her even more than you do, Lady Scarlett." I spotted him smirking, and all I could do was narrow my eyes as I turned to look at the photos.

I crossed my arms and threw them across the table. But I kept staring at them all. Even as the man was speaking, I felt as though nothing could ever free them from the images he was seeing and hearing because my eyesight and hearing were still hazy at the moment.

In a room dimly lit by red, I noticed a strange woman with these bold and alluring pictures. She was wearing a slender, transparent black dress with red knickers.

On the upper portion of her face, the woman in the photo had a mask on. She was grinning the broadest, with a whip in her right hand.

The location is the same as in other photos, but the man is someone I've never seen before, and his dress is different. The men were distinct individuals, and they were all left with scars on their backs from the injuries they sustained from the whip the woman used on them.

There was only one thing that might have happened if this wasn't Sophia, which I couldn't even begin to imagine.

Frecnhester would be playing games with me, sending me these fictitious images to find out the location of his missing sister.

I gave a sly smile and punched the table as hard as I could, causing the images to drop softly to the ground.

"Frenchester, you understand," I remarked as I got up from my chair and approached him. I traced the contours of his face—a face befitting an untamed creature.

As attractive as he could be, young and eligible, I suppose he would fit better in my plans than Raven's.

"You know what's worse than when people lie to me? I hate it."

I leaned over to inquire, nipping the tip of his upper ear.

I heard Frenchester scream in agony from the bite, "I could see through them lie through their smiles and teeth," and a few seconds later he was already crawling to my feet with trembling hands.

"Please, you know I've been looking into Sophia for as long as I can remember, but that's real. I don't know what you're talking about about them being unreal."

"Who gave you the order to look into her?"

"I can't tell that to you because it's private—UGH!" He let out an even louder cry of anguish when I planted my heels on the backs of his hands.

"Are you interested in seeing your sister? It's simple, Frenchester: either turn against me and you'll see what I can do to your dear one, or ally with me and you'll betray the others."

"G-George W-Winster!"

George? Is he Lucas' friend?

"Is that all?"

"Ugh! No, he had a friend, but I didn't know who it was; we had a meeting together, and all I could see was a glimpse of his golden hair."

"What did you say?"