~Lucian’s POV

I closed my eyes, the memory playing out in my mind like a haunting movie I couldn’t turn off. The orders I had given, the lives I had taken without a second thought, all in pursuit of power and control. At the time, it seemed necessary. A strategic move to secure my position, to eliminate any threats to my reign. I didn’t care about the consequences. I didn’t care about the lives I was destroying.

But then Bella came into my life.

She had been a beacon of light in my dark ...