Lucca's POV
"Do you genuinely care about me?" Seraphina asked, catching me off guard. Fortunately, I was good at hiding my emotions, so I didn't let her notice my surprise.
"What do you think?" I asked instead of answering her question.
She looked down and shrugged.
"I don't know."
I watched her lower her head and sighed inwardly.
I admitted it to myself, I cared about her. Not because she had the ring I needed, but because I felt this overwhelming urge to protect her. She had annoyed me from the very beginning, and she still did sometimes. But despite that, the concern I felt for her was real. I didn't want anyone to hurt this fragile little woman.
Maybe I had changed a little.
But I wouldn't let my guard down. I wouldn't let her see how I truly felt.
"Don't do it again," I said, trying to ease the heavy atmosphere.
She looked at me curiously.
"You're good at keeping secrets from your friends, especially from Mira. What if she finds out about all those secrets someday?"
"I just don't want her to worry about me," she answered.
"Then tell them to me," I said without hesitation, making her look at me even more curiously.
"Didn't you notice? Every time you keep a secret, I'm somehow involved. So why not tell me everything? I'm good at keeping secrets too."
"Lucca..."
She seemed unable to find the right words.
"You keep calling my name," I said sarcastically.
She suddenly laughed, making me frown.
"I'm sorry. I just don't know what to say. I'm also surprised because you've changed so much since the first day we met," she admitted honestly.
Her words caught me off guard.
Hearing that from someone as quiet and reserved as Seraphina felt different. If Mira had said the same thing, it wouldn't have affected me at all.
I cleared my throat and looked away.
"I've heard that many times before," I said, pretending it didn't bother me.
"Have I told you that before?" she asked. "I don't remember."
"That's because you're getting old."
"I'm not old. You are," she shot back.
I glared at her.
"Old? Hah! If we're comparing the two of us, you look older than I do. Look at you, so thin, so fragile. Tsk. No wonder people always try to hurt you."
The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted them.
Her smile slowly disappeared.
"I didn't mean to—"
"You're right, Lucca," she interrupted softly. "I'm just a fragile little woman who always ends up getting hurt by people. I've known that for a long time. I never really had any friends except Mira. I tried making friends when I was still in school, but it never ended well."
I hadn't meant it that way.
I was talking about Damon, not the people from her past.
I had no idea she had been bullied before. I didn't know her past had been filled with so much pain.
I wanted to apologize, but the words refused to leave my mouth.
Maybe it was pride.
Or maybe I simply didn't know how.
Fortunately, she didn't seem angry.
"So... when do I start working at your company?" she asked, deliberately changing the subject.
"When you're fully recovered," I answered.
"I think I'll be fine tomorrow. I'll just take the medicine and supplements the doctor prescribed."
"You're not the doctor, so you can't decide that you'll be fine tomorrow. Let's wait for his advice when he comes back later."
She nodded.
"You mentioned before that I'd be your assistant. What exactly will my job be?"
In truth, that position was only an excuse to keep an eye on her twenty-four hours a day.
I already had an executive assistant who handled everything whenever I didn't feel like working.
Now I had to figure out what kind of work I could actually give Seraphina as my personal assistant.
"Whatever I ask you to do," I answered. "I'll need you by my side all the time, wherever I go, whenever I need you."
"Twenty-four seven?" Seraphina asked curiously.
"Can you do that?" I asked in return.
"So... I won't be going home?" she asked again.
"Did I ever say that?" I replied with another question.
"Can't you just answer my questions instead of asking me another one?"
"Who the hell would make their employee work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week? Are you really that dense?"
She frowned.
"I'm just assuming that's how my job as your personal assistant will be. Do you really need one? You could just assign me to one of the departments, like when I was still working at Dominic's company," she murmured.
"Now you're being choosy," I said.
"No, I'm not. I just didn't expect to become your personal assistant. You only told me I'd be working at your company, so I thought you'd assign me to a department."
"Why? Are you disappointed?" I asked.
"Who would be disappointed with that kind of salary?" she shot back.
I wanted to smirk, but I stopped myself. She looked slightly annoyed by our conversation, yet she still continued arguing with me. Maybe it was because we were the only two people in the house.
"I'm not the kind of boss you're imagining. You can still go home and rest. I just need you to be with me whenever I need you," I finally explained.
The frown on her face immediately disappeared. She could switch emotions in an instant.
I almost laughed, but I held it back. Teasing her any further would only start another argument.
Seraphina's POV
Talking to Lucca today felt like riding a roller coaster. One moment I was annoyed, and the next I was entertained by him. I hadn't even noticed how much time had passed because, despite how irritating he could be, I was actually enjoying his company. His answers were never straightforward, yet somehow our conversations never became boring.
"Are you just going to stand there with your arms crossed all afternoon?" I asked. He had been standing there the whole time.
"Why do you care?" he asked.
See? That was exactly what annoyed me about him. I would ask him a simple question, and he'd answer it with another question.
"Right. You have super strength, so why would I even worry?" I replied.
"Tsk."
Lucca was like a woman on her period. Sometimes he was pleasant to talk to, and other times he was impossible. But I guessed that was part of my job as his personal assistant, to understand him and deal with his mood swings.
Even so, I was grateful to him. No matter what happened, he always ended up saving me whenever trouble found me. I just hoped he wouldn't get tired of helping someone he saw as nothing more than a fragile little woman.
Our conversation was interrupted when his phone rang. He stepped outside to answer the call, and a few minutes later, he returned to my room.
"Is that work? You can leave if you need to," I said. It looked like something important had come up.
"It's not work," he answered.
"A personal matter, then?" I asked.
He looked at me and frowned.
Okay...
Was he in a bad mood again?
He busied himself with his phone while I found myself staring at him. I would never get tired of telling everyone how handsome he was. He looked like a Korean Greek god.
I wondered...
Did he even like women?
With that personality of his, I doubted anyone would dare get close to him. I certainly hadn't planned to. Fate was the one that kept bringing us together.
He was the last person I had expected to become close to. There was even a time when I wanted to cut ties with all of them because I didn't feel comfortable around them.
But here we were.
Still connected in ways I never imagined.
It hadn't even been a year. Only a few months had passed, yet it felt as though we had known each other for much longer.
Of course you met him before... just not as Lucca, but as Xavier Knight.
That thought reminded me of my dream.
The connection between the past and the present.
Now I remembered the last dream I had.
I looked at Lucca, who was still focused on his phone.
Should I ask him about that dream? Maybe he had dreamed about it too.
No...
I'd wait for him to bring it up first.
What if he hadn't dreamed about it at all?
"Why do you keep staring at me?"
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are," he insisted.
I frowned and threw a pillow at him. Since my room wasn't very big, it hit him right in the chest.
"Huh! How dare you throw a pillow at your boss?" he asked while holding it.
"I haven't started working yet, so technically, you're still not my boss," I shot back.
To my surprise, he threw the pillow back.
"Ouch!" I cried as it hit me harder than I expected. "That's not fair! You're using your super strength!" I complained.
"I'm not using my power. That was just a normal throw," Lucca said.
I glared at him before grabbing two pillows and throwing both at him.
"Can't you stop acting like a child?" Lucca shouted as he threw one back.
"I'm not!" I shouted before throwing another pillow at him.
Lucca walked closer to my bed and threw the pillow straight at my face, causing me to fall back onto the mattress. But I didn't want him to think he had won, so I grabbed another pillow and kept throwing it at him.
"Lucca? Sera?"
We both froze and turned toward the door.
Mira and Damian stood there, staring at us curiously. We were both holding pillows, and my hair was a complete mess.
Mira's POV
After Seraphina told me to go home and get some rest, Damian accompanied me. He drove me to my condo and walked me upstairs.
"Shouldn't you be at the office?" I asked.
"I'll go. Just call me when you need me to pick you up."
I smiled.
"Thank you for the ride."
"Just a thank you?" he asked without smiling. In fact, I had never seen him smile ever since we met, even after we started dating.
I blushed before leaning in and kissing him on the cheek.
"There. Now go," I said before quickly closing the door with a smile on my face.
My plan was to take a nap before packing my things, but because of what Damian had done, I couldn't stop smiling. Instead of sleeping, I spent the whole afternoon happily packing because I would be staying at Seraphina's house for the night.
After I finished packing, I lay on my bed while scrolling through my social media accounts. Then I realized that Damian and I still weren't following each other. I immediately opened the apps and searched for his name. I sent him friend requests and follow requests on every platform I had.
I smiled.
I hoped he would accept them.
While hugging my phone, I suddenly heard a notification.
Damian had accepted all of my requests.
I couldn't help but smile again. He really knew how to make me happy.
I opened his Instagram profile and started scrolling through his old posts.
But my smile slowly disappeared.
One photo caught my attention. A beautiful woman was smiling brightly at the camera. Then I read the caption.
My girl.
Something inside my chest ached, but I tried to brush it off.
The post had been uploaded in 2025, last year.
So they had already broken up before he started courting me.
Even so...
The woman was beautiful.
She looked like a model.
Curious, I opened her profile and browsed through her posts.
As I scrolled, I came across a picture of Damian standing shirtless in front of the camera with a genuine smile on his face.
I couldn't help but envy his ex-girlfriend.
It was the first time I had ever seen him smile like that.
He looked... happy.
I put my phone down and stretched my arms across the bed.
A dull ache settled in my chest.
Even though she was already part of his past, I couldn't stop comparing myself to her.
While I was lost in my thoughts, my phone vibrated again.
It was a message from Lucca.
Come over now. I need to go out for a while, and I can't leave her alone.
I immediately got out of bed and called Damian.
"Can you pick me up now? Lucca just texted me. He said I need to go to Sera's house."
"Okay," he answered briefly before ending the call.
I couldn't help but feel sorry for myself.
Then another thought crossed my mind.
Was he different with his ex?
Now that I thought about it, Damian had been a little flirty when we first met, but he wasn't exactly affectionate, especially when we were alone together.
I grabbed my bag and went downstairs to wait for him.
He arrived only a few minutes later.
As we drove toward Seraphina's house, I had the urge to ask him about his ex. But I didn't want him to think I was being an overly curious girlfriend.
Instead, I brought up Lucca and Seraphina.
"Have you noticed that Lucca and Sera have been getting closer?" I asked.
"Why do you think so?" he asked.
"I don't know. They've both been acting differently lately. I was really surprised when Lucca called me earlier to tell me about Seraphina. Didn't Dominic drop Lucca off at his house before taking Sera home?"
"Yes," he answered shortly.
"Then how did Lucca find Sera after she collapsed? He went to her house... but why?"
The questions had been bothering me all day. I had wanted to ask them earlier, but I was so worried about Seraphina that they completely slipped my mind.
A few minutes later, we arrived at Seraphina's house.
We went inside and locked the gate behind us.
As soon as we entered, I didn't see Lucca anywhere. Maybe he was in Seraphina's room since the door was open.
As we got closer, I heard loud voices coming from inside.
Curious, we walked to the doorway.
I gasped.
There they were...
Throwing pillows at each other.
They were actually having a pillow fight like a couple of teenagers.
"Lucca... Sera?" I called, my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open in disbelief.
I never imagined I would witness something like this.
Seraphina had never seemed like the playful type.
And Lucca...
He was the last person I could picture doing something so childish.
Yet there they were, throwing pillows at each other as though nothing else in the world mattered.
Lucca tossed the pillow onto the bed and walked toward us with his hands in his pockets.
"I'm leaving for a while. I have something important to do," he said.
I simply nodded. I was still too shocked to say anything.
I looked at Seraphina. Her hair was slightly messy, and she was quietly staring at us.
"I'll stay in the living room," Damian said before leaving the room.
I walked over to Seraphina and gently fixed her messy hair.
"I never imagined you'd have a pillow fight with Lucca," I said as I sat beside her on the bed.
"Neither did I. I didn't know he'd actually fight back by throwing the pillows at me too," Seraphina replied, sounding as though she was complaining about Lucca's childish behavior.
I couldn't help but laugh.
She stopped talking and looked at me.
"You two looked like children a while ago," I said between laughs. "I'm sure Damian will tease Lucca about his behavior too."
"Did we really look that childish? I've never had a pillow fight before."
"Yes, dear. You really did. And I never imagined Lucca would do something like that."
"Me neither," she said again, still sounding as though she couldn't believe what had happened.
I laughed even harder.
At the same time, I felt happy and amazed by what I had just witnessed.
For the first time, I had seen the childish side of both of them.
A side that no one would have expected.
Seraphina eventually joined me in laughing. She kept saying that she still couldn't believe Lucca had actually thrown the pillows back at her.
After our laughter finally died down, we both became quiet.
"Do you want to have a snack? There's plenty of food outside," I asked.
"I think I do," she answered with a smile.
Seeing Seraphina smile made my heart flutter.
It was rare to see her smile so genuinely.
Lucca's POV
"Fuck!"
I couldn't help but slam my hand against the steering wheel as I drove, every time I remembered what had happened at Seraphina's house.
How childish.
A pillow fight?
With her?
And to make matters worse, Mira and Damian had witnessed the whole thing. I was sure Damian would tell Dominic, and Dominic would never let me live it down.
I hadn't planned on throwing a pillow back at her. But she had started it first, and it annoyed me. I thought she'd stop after the first throw, but she didn't. So I fought back.
Only when Mira and Damian walked in did I realize how ridiculous we looked.
I pulled my car over, got out, and headed toward my master's house.
He had called me earlier, asking me to come over. That was why I had texted Mira to stay with Seraphina. I couldn't leave her alone, especially when I had a feeling Damon was lurking somewhere, waiting for us to let our guard down.
I had also texted Damian, asking him to stay there as well. Mira would be no match for Damon if he suddenly appeared. At least Damian could fight him since he possessed the same supernatural strength.
Fortunately, Damian agreed. Even though he didn't like Seraphina very much, he knew how important the ring was to me.
"It's been a while, Lucca," my master greeted me with a warm smile.
I sat on the small sofa while he poured me the tea he always served whenever I visited.
"So... where's my souvenir?" he asked.
"I forgot to bring it. I came straight from Seraphina's house."
"You've only just returned, and you're already at Seraphina's house?"
"Damon knows about Seraphina," I said.
My master's expression immediately changed.
"Since when?"
"Ever since I was hospitalized. He even tracked us down to the place where we spent our vacation. Now he's working with Mira's parents, who happen to be the business partners of Damian's girlfriend, just so he can get close to us."
"That's a serious problem," my master said, his expression turning grim.
"You can't let Damon get close to Seraphina. Does he know about the ring?"
"I don't think so. He believes that Seraphina and I are in a relationship."
"At least that's one advantage. Once he discovers the truth about the ring, it could be the beginning of the end for all of us. He'll do whatever it takes to get it."
"Yeah. I'm doing everything I can to protect Seraphina."
A smile slowly appeared on my master's face.
It made me curious.
"'Protect Seraphina.' You didn't say, 'protect the ring.' Have you become attached to her?" he asked meaningfully.
"What? No! I'm only protecting her because of the ring she's wearing. If she didn't have it, I wouldn't be doing any of this."
My master's smile never faded.
"I doubt that. You seem to genuinely care about her. It looks like you've finally learned your lesson the hard way."
"So, did you call me here just to insist that I care about her?" I asked.
"No." He chuckled. "I simply wanted to see you. Actually, I wanted to see all three of you, but I know you're all busy adults now."
I waited for him to continue.
For some reason...
I didn't like the way he had started that sentence.
"I'm getting old, Lucca. I can feel my body growing weaker every day."
"You haven't even reached your eighties yet," I said.
"But I'm fortunate to have lived this long, don't you think?"
"Don't die yet. We're not ready."
He laughed.
"I know. I know. But you have to prepare yourselves."
He reached into his pocket and handed me a small key.
"When I die, come here and open the drawer with this key."
"We don't need your money or your assets."
"It isn't about money or assets," he said. "It's about the truth."
"What truth?" I asked.
"You'll find out."
"But not yet."
"Can't you just tell me now so I won't have to worry?" I insisted.
He smiled gently.
"Patience is the key, Lucca. You'll know everything when the time comes... after I'm gone."