Chapter 4 - Fractured GlassThe temperature in the studio plummeted instantly. Adrien walked down the center aisle of the studio, his posture rigid, the gentle, accommodating boyfriend completely evaporated.
"What are you doing here, Victor?" Adrien’s voice was sharp, laced with a venom Lena had never heard from him before.
Victor didn't flinch. He slowly straightened up, towering over his younger brother by a full two inches. He slid his own necklace back into his coat pocket, leaving the space between them clear. "I was checking on my property, little brother. Same as you."
Adrien’s face flushed red. He turned his attention to Lena, his expression shifting from hostility to a desperate, wounded mask of betrayal. "Lena... you let him in here? After everything I told you about him? After I warned you how toxic my family is?"
"He told me about the necklaces, Adrien," Lena said, her voice shaking but resolute as she stepped out from behind the desk. She looked directly into the eyes of the man she had trusted for six months. "He told me the one you gave me has V.D. engraved on it. He told me it belonged to him."
Adrien stared at her for a long, agonizing second. Then, slowly, the wounded expression melted away, replaced by a cold, calculating stillness that terrified Lena far more than his anger.
"You shouldn't have been snooping in her drawers, Victor," Adrien said quietly, his voice dropping an octave. He turned to Lena, stepping forward, his hands open in a familiar, placating gesture. "Lena, listen to me. Don't listen to his lies. Grandmother gave both pieces to the estate. Victor is twisting everything because he hates that I found someone pure, someone good, while he spends his life in the dark."
"Stop it, Adrien," Lena said, holding up a hand to stop him. She backed away toward the safety of the back hallway. "Just stop lying. You knew whose necklace that was. You knew it was Victor's. You brought me to that house on purpose."
Adrien’s hands dropped to his sides. The mask was completely gone now. The sweet, patient yoga studio visitor was dead, replaced by a ruthless heir of the Duca syndicate.
"You think you're so smart," Adrien sneer-laughed softly, taking another step forward. "You think a few yoga classes and a bruised past make you immune to how the world works. I gave you that necklace because I wanted you tied to us. I wanted you to wear my family's blood on your skin. And if Victor wants to play hero, let him try."
Before Adrien could lunge forward, Victor moved with terrifying speed. He grabbed Adrien by the collar of his jacket, slamming him against the sturdy wooden studio pillar with a force that rattled the mirrors along the wall.
"Touch her again, and I’ll break every bone in your body before you can even spell your own name," Victor snarled, his face inches from his brother's, his eyes blazing with lethal fury.
Adrien choked out a laugh, struggling against his brother's grip. "Go ahead, big brother! Show her what you really are! Show her the monster she’s running to!"
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Lena stood frozen in the hallway, her heart pounding in her ears. The two men standing before her—brothers bound by blood and violence—were fighting over her as if she were a prize in a war she never enlisted in.
With a surge of blind adrenaline, Lena grabbed her car keys from the front desk, bolted out the side exit into the alleyway, and didn't look back.
