Lukas sobered up the second he saw the face on the monitor. He rubbed his eyes and looked again.

The person outside was still the same.

Nikki.

She was standing right in front of his door.

"Lukas, I need to talk to you," she said, her voice echoing through the speaker.

Lukas held his breath. His hand slowly curled into a fist while the muscles in his neck tightened.

Ever since the incident at the High Chamber, he had been spiraling toward madness.

He felt betrayed.

Hurt.

The friendship he once cherished felt as though it had died overnight.

Yet here she was.

Standing outside his door, as beautiful as ever. There was no visible remorse. No guilt. No sympathy.

If anything, she carried herself as though she had done nothing wrong.

What did he expect?

Nikki was never the type to grovel.

She was proud.

Once, that had been one of the things he admired most about her. Now, it hurt.. painfully so.

Because a part of him still admired it -- still found it impressive.

The insult only came second.

"It’s business," she added when he remained silent. "Whatever happened between us, we’re still part of the same company."

Lukas scoffed.

"Part of the same company?" He tilted his head and ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek. "Who are we kidding?"

Dominion was enormous.

Large enough to have factions within factions. They might both belong to Dominion. They might even work under the same company. But that didn’t mean they served the same cause.

Lukas reached toward the control panel. "Get out."

"Lukas—"

"Don’t make me call security," he warned coldly.

Even saying those words made his chest tighten painfully.

"If this is business, then schedule a meeting during office hours." His gaze hardened. "Outside of that, I don’t entertain work-related matters unless they’re important."

"The High Chamber’s affairs have nothing to do with me anymore." He scoffed. "That’s Gustav’s jurisdiction. Go bother him."

His finger hovered over the button as he released it. He remained standing there, watching her through the monitor.

Nikki barely reacted.

She simply let out a shallow breath.

"I came here in good faith," she said, staring directly into the camera as though she knew he was still watching.

"If we’re going to work together, I’d rather we remain civil and agree to a truce." She took a step back.

Her chin remained held high. "I mean it when I say we’re still working toward the same cause."

For several seconds, she stood there. Then she turned around and left.

Lukas remained rooted in place long after she disappeared from view.

The pounding in his head had faded. His expression was cold — blank.

"What the hell happened?" he muttered.

His brows knitted together. "Why is she here?"

He let out a humorless laugh.

"Work together?" His face twisted. "How?"

Then he turned to look for his phone so he could call Gustav.

Unfortunately, after searching the entire apartment, he couldn’t find it.

What Lukas didn’t realize was that, in his drunken state, he had left it inside his car.

*****

[Dominion New Neighborhood]

Lucian stopped at the bathroom door and watched Ashley standing in front of the sink, applying her skincare products.

He quietly walked over.

For a moment, he leaned against the doorframe before moving behind her.

His arms slipped around her waist.

"I’m putting on serum," Ashley warned, keeping her eyes on the mirror.

A subtle smile appeared on Lucian’s face. "I won’t move unnecessarily."

"Hehe," she chuckled, allowing him to rest his chin on her shoulder while watching her reflection.

Silence settled comfortably between them.

Ashley switched to another bottle and dabbed a small amount onto her face.

Lucian simply watched. One of the bottles she used was almost empty.

I should buy her a new one tomorrow.

He quietly memorized the brand name.

"Is Primo asleep?" Ashley asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Mhm," he nodded. "He said he wants to stay overnight with Madam Liza and Sir Tommy if possible."

Ashley raised a brow and glanced at his reflection through the mirror. Unlike her and Primo, who had somehow started calling the couple "Grandmama" and "Grandpapa," Lucian remained formal.

She decided not to question it. Lucian would either address people formally or call them by name.

Even she was still just Ashley to him.

"We can arrange that," she said. "They’re staying until the launch party anyway."

Again, Lucian only hummed.

A minute later, he finally spoke.

"Let’s go."

Ashley blinked and looked at him through the mirror.

All she saw was a subtle smile.

Confusion slowly appeared on her face.

*****

[Earlier That Day]

"I want to study it and write a paper." Raka grinned.

This should’ve been an easy question.

Lucian might not know exactly what had caused his condition, but that was Raka’s job to figure out.

All he needed was more information.

Unfortunately, his enthusiasm began fading when Lucian didn’t respond.

"Hello?" Raka leaned forward and waved a hand. "Did you hear me? Lucian? My friend?"

No response.

Raka cleared his throat. "Best friend for life?"

To his surprise, Lucian muttered something.

"What?" Raka frowned.

The moment Lucian slowly lifted his gaze and looked at him, Raka almost jumped.

He immediately raised both hands.

"I was joking, okay? How can we be best friends for life?" he said quickly. "You don’t have to look at me like that—"

"I can’t just stand by and do nothing." Lucian cut him off.

Every word carried weight. A deep breath escaped him.

"I can’t." His gaze lowered. "I just can’t."

He had to do something.

If there was a way to speed up Ashley’s healing—or erase the pain altogether—then there had to be another solution.

Raka leaned back.

For the first time, he truly studied Lucian’s face.

The determination.

The desperation.

Neither of those emotions fit naturally on Lucian’s usually composed features.

Raka didn’t need to ask whether the person in question was important.

The answer was obvious.

"Fine," he sighed heavily. "I give up."

It seemed they wouldn’t be moving on from this topic anytime soon.

Throwing his hands into the air, he surrendered. Then he suddenly slapped the armrest and stood.

Just when Lucian thought Raka had given up, the man dragged a large whiteboard across the room and parked it beside the couch.

"What are you doing?" Lucian asked, confused.

Raka flipped the board around, erased the formulas already written there, and bit the cap off a marker.

Then he pointed dramatically at Lucian.

"Let’s build a time machine."

Lucian stared at him.

Raka pointed at himself proudly. "The Great Raka and you, good sir, shall do it together."

Of course, he wasn’t talking about a literal time machine.

What he meant was finding a way to help Ashley.

A plan that wouldn’t defy the laws of nature. But it might allow Lucian to make it better.