Vaelis had always known that power came with layers of secrecy. But as she peeled them back one by one, she realized this was no ordinary game.

It took three days of careful inquiries. She didn’t push too hard—just enough to make people talk. A casual mention to a finance student here, an offhand remark to a faculty assistant there. Each piece of information trickled in, forming a pattern.

The name that kept surfacing wasn’t someone in the student council, nor a professor. It wasn’t even a direct sponsor.

It was someone operating behind the scenes.

A man whose name wasn’t on the official list, but whose influence was undeniable.

Lucien

The name wasn’t one she had ever heard before, but the more she dug, the clearer it became that he was far from ordinary. A rising force in the corporate world, his influence stretched wider than his age should have allowed. Despite his wealth and power, his past was full of missing details—no childhood records, no family connections, just a sudden emergence a few years ago.

A ghost who had built himself from nothing.

And the most telling detail? His company was one of the key sponsors of the university. He had every means to put her name on that list.

But the question remained—why?

Vaelis didn’t waste time wondering. If he wanted to pull her into his game, then she would play on her terms.

Through a connection in the Business Department, she secured a meeting. Not in some high-rise office, but in a quiet, unassuming café downtown. A public space. A neutral battleground.

---

The café smelled of roasted coffee beans and fresh pastries, a stark contrast to the tension curling in her stomach.

Vaelis arrived first, choosing a corner table with a clear view of the entrance. She had no intention of appearing nervous. When Lucien Voss finally walked in, she knew instantly it was him.

He moved with an effortless kind of authority, as if the world itself bent around him. Dressed in sharp, tailored black, his presence demanded attention without a single word.

And yet, it wasn’t just his appearance that unsettled her. It was something deeper. Something about him felt... familiar.

Lucien’s gaze found hers instantly. He approached without hesitation, sliding into the seat across from her with a calm, deliberate grace.

“I wondered when you’d come looking for me,” he said, voice smooth, carrying a weight that sent a shiver down her spine.

Vaelis didn’t flinch. “You made sure I had no choice.”

A slow smirk tugged at his lips. “You always had a choice, Vaelis. You just don’t like being backed into a corner.”

Her pulse spiked at the way he said her name, as if he had known it long before they had ever met.

“Why did you put my name on the gala list?” she demanded.

Lucien leaned back, studying her with an intensity that made her feel like he was peeling back every layer she had built around herself. “Because I needed to see you.”

The simplicity of the answer caught her off guard. She narrowed her eyes. “We’ve never met before.”

He tilted his head, considering her words. “Haven’t we?”

A chill ran down her spine.

Lucien exhaled, his fingers tapping idly against the table. “You feel it, don’t you? That sense of familiarity. Like you’ve seen me before.”

She didn’t answer.

He leaned in slightly, his voice lowering. “Because you have.”

Something inside her twisted, an instinctive rejection of his words—and yet, she couldn’t deny the eerie sense that he was right.

Lucien’s gaze darkened, his smirk fading into something unreadable. “I’ve been waiting for you to remember.”

The air between them grew charged, thick with unspoken truths.

Vaelis forced herself to stay composed. “Remember what?”

A slow, deliberate pause. Then—

“That I’ve been reborn too.”

Her breath hitched.

For a moment, the world felt as if it had stopped. The soft hum of the café, the quiet chatter of customers—it all faded into the background as his words sank in.

Lucien didn’t blink. He was watching her, waiting for her reaction.

“Impossible,” she whispered.

He smiled, but there was no amusement in it. “You know it isn’t.”

Vaelis gripped the edge of the table, her mind racing. The weight of his gaze, the way he spoke to her—it all made sense now.

She wasn’t the only one who had escaped the past.

Lucien Voss had been there too.

The question wasn’t just why he had sought her out.

The question was—who had he been before?

And what did he want now?