Lucien's POV
"Why the hell do I have to attend your sister's birthday party?" I snapped, gripping the wheel harder as I sped down the empty road.
"Dude! You are my only friend there, and no one can help me other than you…" the person on the other side replied. "She is alone, man—surrounded by snakes in that house. I can't be there, and I need you to watch her back. Please."
"Whatever!" I rolled my eyes as I kept my eyes on the road.
"Either way, I am sending you the image of her," he said as my phone vibrated. "Remember, her name is Sera… Seraphina Lancaster! Do not forget her name and confuse her with someone else."
What the hell was wrong with this person? Was I so bad at this? Me?
I opened my mouth to say something when he hung up the call.
"Fcuk! If you want to play the doting brother, do it yourself. Why drag me into this?" I was dying with annoyance when my eyes fell on the person who was blindly approaching my car.
"What the hell!" I gave the horn for them to go away, but it seemed they were out to die!
I couldn't hold my anger as I stopped my car just a few inches away from her and snapped at her, but when I saw the condition she was in… I didn't know what to say?
The girl seemed like a wounded animal. She was trembling but still trying to stand on her feet. Her hands were stained with blood, and her eyes were filled with fear. But there was something else in her eyes that hooked me on the spot.
She looked completely broken to me but there was something that told me that she was holding on hard to live.
The girl looked just like me in the past!
I was still immersed in my thoughts when a loud screech jolted me awake. A man stumbled out of the ambulance that just arrived.
I quickly took a glance and could tell what might have happened. The girl fought herself out of something very horrific. Her clothes were torn and wrists were wounded, the fear in her eyes… it made things very clear.
And then I heard him speak.
"You filthy little…"
I stepped between them before he could reach the girl.
"Who are you?"
I wasn't really interested in the man, but I could tell he was the predator who had harassed the girl. And I was right when the Jim guy explained that she had attacked him.
But… was she really mentally unstable?
I was already annoyed at Adrian for dragging me into some birthday party nonsense just because he couldn't be there in person, and now I was stuck in this mess.
Either way, this had nothing to do with me. I should just leave. That was exactly what I thought—
Until the girl behind me whispered in a broken, trembling voice.
"M-Mister… Save me. He… he tried to do something under my clothes."
My whole body went rigid. My blood boiled. I had suspected something, but to hear it confirmed like that?
I wanted to tear that bastard apart right there. But I stopped myself.
What if she was lying? What if this were all some elaborate setup? I didn't know what was real anymore.
I told myself to walk away. Call the police and be done with it.
But then she begged me to take her with me.
"Why would I believe a mental patient like you?" I said. The words came out colder than I intended, but I needed space to think and I had to reach the location ASAP.
And that's when I heard Jim say her name.
Seraphina Lancaster.
My heart froze.
That name… it couldn't be. Lancaster? As in Adrian Lancaster's sister?
There were no other Lancasters in this city. That had to mean—
Shit.
Adrian was right. His sister was in deep trouble. And I was standing in the middle of it.
Now it changed everything. I once again looked at her weak body full of bruises and the way she looked.
"Did he really touch you?" asked in a low and cold tone.
She didn't speak and just nodded, slowly, painfully.
That was all I needed.
I lifted her into my arms. She was lighter than I expected. Like someone who had gone without care for a long, long time.
She looked up at me, eyes glazed but pleading.
"Don't… take me back to them," she whispered. "Please. Take me with you."
I hesitated.
But only for a second.
"Alright," I said, tightening my grip. "You are coming with me."
And I turned away from the bastard who had broken her.
"Mister, what are you trying to do? Do you know someone from the Lancaster family? You can ask them!" Jim hobbled after me, dragging his leg like a limp.
I didn't respond. I had a trembling little bunny in my arms. That was all that mattered.
"Sit here," I whispered, opening the back door and guiding her in carefully. She didn't resist—just looked at me with those broken, pleading eyes before sinking into the seat.
I shut the door and turned to leave.
"You can't do this!" Jim's voice rose again. "She injured me, and now you are helping her run? I can sue you for illegally removing a patient!"
That was it.
I turned on him with eyes full of rage. "Sue me?" I spat.
One step.
"You laid your filthy hands on her—"
Another step.
"And you think I am the criminal here?"
My foot slammed into his stomach. He hit the ground with a thud, wheezing like a deflated balloon.
"You want to talk law? "The law will come for you. But I am faster." I growled as I kicked him again, this time where it hurt the most. "Let's talk justice."
He curled up on the pavement, whimpering. But I wasn't done.
"What the hell are you doing?" the other guy—probably the driver—shouted as he rushed over. "This is illegal."
The guts they had to use the law after what they had done.
"Sue me all you want!" My breathing was ragged in fury as I looked at them. "Get him out of my sight. And yeah—go ahead, sue me. See how far that gets you."