The headlines screamed ZARA WINTERS LINKED TO FOUNDATION FRAUD by dawn.
An anonymous source had leaked sealed records—half-truths twisted into scandal, painting Zara as complicit in her father's alleged embezzlement during the final months of his empire. The world was quick to judge again.
Zara stared at the dossier spread across Lucien's glass conference table in his private penthouse office. Her hands were cold, even as fury coiled hot beneath her skin.
Damien had drawn first blood.
But this time, she wasn't alone.
Lucien stood beside her, sleeves rolled up, his phone pressed to his ear as he coordinated a counter-attack with his legal team. "I want the source traced. And tell Langston to prep a press statement by noon. No denials—just a cold, sharp correction. We don't play defense. We hit back."
He ended the call and turned to Zara, who hadn't spoken since the news dropped.
"He's digging through your past because he's scared," Lucien said.
"He's trying to kill what's left of my father's name," she whispered.
Lucien stepped closer, voice low. "He's trying to kill you, Zara. But he's too late for that. You're already reborn."
Zara looked up, her eyes burning with unshed rage. "I want to end him."
"You will," he said, brushing his fingers against hers. "But not by reacting. We build something smarter. Something final."
Her chest rose with every breath, her body strung tight like a wire ready to snap.
And Lucien saw it—the storm behind her silence. The exhaustion she wouldn't speak aloud. The toll this war had taken on her heart, her mind, her soul.
Without a word, he tugged her gently by the wrist, guiding her out of the war room and into the quiet of his bedroom.
"Lucien—"
"Not for sex," he murmured. "Not right now."
She didn't pull away.
He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her into his lap. She resisted for only a heartbeat before sinking against him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders like she was afraid she'd disappear if she let go.
"You don't have to carry all of this alone," he said into her hair. "Not with me here."
Her voice was raw. "He's trying to turn me into something I'm not."
Lucien pulled back to look at her. "Then let's remind the world who you really are."
Their foreheads touched.
The silence between them was intimate, healing.
And then—without speaking—Lucien tilted her chin and kissed her.
Not urgently. Not possessively.
But slowly. Deeply. Like he needed to feel every fracture in her soul and pour warmth into it.
Zara moaned into his mouth, her fingers gripping his shirt as she climbed over his lap. The kiss deepened, his hands cradling her waist, anchoring her when everything else felt like it might fall apart.
When he laid her back on the bed, she didn't stop him.
His mouth traced along her collarbone, down to her ribs, each kiss a vow she hadn't known he was making. She arched beneath him as his hands roamed her body—not in hunger, but in reverence. And when their clothes came off, it wasn't frantic.
It was quiet.
Sacred.
They moved together like the eye of the storm—violent emotions swirling around them, but in each other's arms, they found stillness.
Lucien looked down at her, eyes dark, voice shaking. "I don't care how many scandals they invent. I won't let them take you from me."
Zara's throat tightened. "I don't want to be saved."
"I know," he said, brushing her hair from her face. "But I'll bleed beside you until the war's won."
Tears slipped down her cheeks even as her body writhed beneath his. This wasn't about dominance or escape.
It was about survival.
They broke and rebuilt each other with every thrust, every whispered plea, every stifled cry into each other's skin.
And when it was over, she didn't move from his arms.
Hours passed.
The room dimmed into twilight.
Then Zara stirred, voice rough from sleep. "We need to strike back."
Lucien nodded. "We will. I've got a plan."
He walked her into his study where a digital blueprint of ValeCorp's internal hierarchy glowed on the screen.
"Damien's been working with someone inside," he said. "I've traced a leak to Blackwell's assistant—she's been feeding Damien confidential merger information and press contacts."
Zara stiffened. "You think Ethan's involved?"
"Either he knows and is complicit—or he's a fool. Either way, it's leverage."
Zara paced slowly. "We hit Ethan, we hit the heart of Damien's clean image. If we can tie him to falsified documents…"
Lucien smirked. "Exactly."
She turned to him, heart racing. "Then let's burn the lie down."
Lucien reached out, took her hand, and pulled her against him once more. "Side by side."
Her fingers curled against his chest. "Until the end."