The underground complex felt different after the warehouse.
Quieter. Tighter. As if the walls themselves were listening.
Marcus was taken to a secured medical wing, guarded by men who didn't blink and barely breathed. I watched them lead him away, relief and terror twisting together in my chest. He was alive. But Lucien had let him go too easily.
Which meant this wasn't mercy.
It was strategy.
Marcel walked beside me in silence until the heavy doors of the command level sealed behind us. Only then did he turn.
"You recognized him," he said.
It wasn't a question.
I swallowed. "I recognized something. Not his face. His presence. The way he moved. The way he spoke to me like he already knew me."
Marcel's jaw tightened. "Lucien never exposes himself unless he wants to be remembered."
"That's what scares me," I whispered. "He wanted me to remember him."
Marcel led me to a long table covered with holographic projections—faces, documents, financial records, coded histories. Dozens of men rotated through the air like ghosts.
"Everyone who has ever been suspected of being Lucien Valen," Marcel said. "Every proxy. Every mask."
I stared at them. "Then how do I know which one is real?"
"You don't," Marcel said quietly. "Until he chooses to be."
I closed my eyes, forcing myself to remember the warehouse. The eye. The tilt of his head. The cadence of his voice.
Then a memory surfaced.
Not from the warehouse.
From my past.
A charity gala, years ago. Before Marcel. Before contracts. Before cages.
I had been younger. Free. Laughing.
A man had offered me a drink when I dropped my clutch. Polite. Elegant. Forgettable.
Except for his eyes.
"I've seen him," I said suddenly.
Marcel stiffened. "Where?"
"At a gala. Years ago. He wasn't powerful then. Or at least he didn't look like it. He was… watching. Everyone. Not just me."
I stepped closer to the projection table. "He didn't flirt. He didn't impress. He observed."
Marcel's fingers moved quickly. Faces filtered.
Older. Younger. Altered.
Then I saw him.
My breath left my body.
It was him.
The same eyes. The same subtle curve of his mouth. The same dangerous calm.
The name beneath the image made my stomach twist.
Julian Hale.
I stared at it, numb.
"No…" I whispered. "That's not possible."
Marcel went still.
"You know him," he said.
"He was engaged to my cousin," I said faintly. "Years ago. He vanished before the wedding. They said he'd died in a private jet accident."
Marcel's eyes darkened. "Lucien Valen doesn't die. He sheds skins."
I felt sick.
"He was kind," I whispered. "Quiet. Intelligent. He helped my aunt when she was sick. He used to bring me books. He told me I was too curious for my own safety."
Marcel looked at me sharply. "He told you that?"
"Yes," I said. "And he smiled when he said it."
Marcel exhaled slowly. "Then Lucien has been studying you far longer than I realized."
A cold realization hit me.
"He didn't choose me because of you," I said. "He chose you because of me."
Marcel didn't deny it.
The truth slammed into me like a wave.
"I was never just collateral," I whispered. "I was the target."
The lights flickered.
The screens glitched.
Then one monitor came alive on its own.
Lucien.
No mask.
No shadows.
Just his face.
Older than the memory. Sharper. Harder.
But unmistakable.
"Hello, Elena," he said softly.
My heart stopped.
Marcel moved in front of me instantly. "Shut it down."
"It's a one-way transmission," Lucien said calmly. "Relax. I only wanted to speak."
"You don't get to say her name," Marcel growled.
Lucien smiled. "You don't get to decide that."
His eyes met mine through the screen.
"I was wondering when you'd remember me."
My voice barely worked. "You were supposed to be dead."
"I was supposed to be invisible," he corrected. "Death was simply more convenient."
"Why?" I whispered. "Why me?"
Lucien tilted his head. "Because you were the only honest thing in a dishonest room. Because you looked at me like I wasn't dangerous yet. Because you saw the man, not the monster."
Tears burned my eyes. "You used me."
"Yes," he said simply. "And you survived me. Which makes you exceptional."
Marcel's voice cut in. "You took her brother."
Lucien's smile faded slightly. "And you took my empire."
Silence stretched.
"You built your power on my bones, Marcel," Lucien continued. "I merely returned the favor with something you couldn't calculate."
His gaze flicked back to me.
"Her."
Marcel's fists clenched. "This ends now."
Lucien chuckled. "No. This begins now."
He leaned closer to the camera.
"Elena, do you know why I let your brother go?"
My chest tightened. "Why?"
"Because I wanted to see which man you would run to."
I froze.
"And you chose Marcel," Lucien said softly. "That hurt more than I expected."
Marcel stepped forward. "She was never yours."
Lucien's eyes darkened. "Everything is mine if I decide it is."
He looked back at me.
"You were never meant to be a prisoner, Elena. You were meant to be a queen."
My voice shook. "A queen in your cage?"
"A queen in my world," he said.
The screen flickered.
"I gave Marcel power," Lucien continued. "I gave you purpose. Now you must decide which one of us is lying to you."
The transmission cut.
Silence swallowed the room.
I realized I was shaking.
Marcel turned to me. "You don't believe him."
"I don't know what I believe," I whispered.
He stepped closer. "Look at me."
I did.
His eyes were intense. Honest. Dangerous. Human.
"He manipulates," Marcel said. "He poisons memories. He reshapes truths."
"But he knew me," I said. "Before you did."
"And I chose you," Marcel replied.
The words hit harder than any threat.
Before I could respond, alarms blared again.
Different this time.
Urgent.
Red lights flooded the command level.
A guard rushed in. "Sir. We've lost surveillance on Marcus."
My heart dropped.
"What?" I gasped.
"He was extracted," the guard continued. "No breach. No violence. Just… gone."
Lucien's voice echoed in my mind.
I only wanted to see which man you would run to.
Marcel turned to me slowly.
His face was unreadable.
"He's not punishing me," Marcel said quietly.
"He's testing you."
My stomach twisted.
I whispered, "Then what happens if I fail?"
Marcel stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"Then Lucien Valen doesn't just take your brother," he said.
"He takes you."
And somewhere deep inside the underground complex…
A single elevator began to descend on its own.