All That Was Lush Is Lost

When Charlie's eyes met mine, a chill shot straight through me, but then he slowly recognized me.

"Lucia? What are you doing out here? Are you following me?" he questioned.

I started to answer, but a piercing cry cut through the air.

"Lucia! I know you're jealous I won first place in the modeling competition, but how could you do this to me? I just wanted to catch up with you!" Kelly shouted.

Charlie's expression darkened, and his gaze was cold and unforgiving as they locked on mine.

"You crossed the line! That first place was always meant for Kelly. You've got no one to blame but yourself for not making it in. What kind of competition would take someone who looks like you? And now your heart's just as twisted!" he defended her.

At that moment, it felt like my heart was ripping in two.

As my eyes stung with tears, I looked at him. "No one to blame but myself? Charlie, do you even have a heart?"

He looked shocked and wouldn't meet my eyes.

"You—"

He started to speak, but Kelly cut in before he could finish. "Charlie, is my head injured? Can you check? Am I going to look horrible?"

Without another glance in my direction, he turned to her, gathering her into his arms like I wasn't even there.

"You could never be horrible," he said gently, then finally turned to face me. "You've seen your face. You shouldn't be out here like this. We'll deal with it at home."

Behind me, Declan and Dylan stood frozen, their faces tight with worry as they watched him walk away.

"Mom, Dad's right."

"You know that your face looks scary. You're going to freak people out if you walk around like this."

I stared at the two little brats standing in front of me, and my fingers started to tremble.

"What did you just say?" I questioned.

I could barely believe those words had come out of their mouths.

"Mom, Dad's just trying to help."

"Yeah, you can come out once your face is better. You should probably head home for now."

The question that had been sitting heavy on my heart already had its answer. If I'd known it would turn out like this, putting my life on the line to bring Declan and Dylan into the world wouldn't be worth it.

"If you need anything, go with the bodyguards. I still have something to do. And remind your dad to sign the papers in the study," I said coldly.

I didn't even get the last word out before they made it clear what they wanted. They told the bodyguards to take them straight to Kelly.

I gave a dry smile and climbed into the car Kurt had waiting for me.