Chapter 20 – A Past That Burns
The room was silent except for the faint rustling of paper as Evelyn turned the note over in her hands.
Lucien Calloway.
The name sat between them like a loaded gun.
Adrian hadn't spoken since he read it.
He sat at the edge of the bed, elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped so tightly his knuckles were white. His breath was steady, but Evelyn could see it—the storm raging behind his eyes.
Lucien Calloway.
A man Adrian once trusted. A man who had shaped him.
A man who had betrayed him.
Evelyn's heart pounded. "Adrian…"
He didn't move.
She knelt in front of him, setting the paper aside. "Talk to me."
His jaw tensed. "There's nothing to say."
Evelyn exhaled sharply. "Don't do that. Don't shut me out."
Adrian lifted his gaze to her, and for the first time, she saw something beneath his cold, calculated exterior.
Hurt.
Not the kind from a gunshot wound or a broken bone. Something deeper. Something raw.
"You don't understand," he said quietly.
"Then make me understand."
Adrian's throat worked as he swallowed. For a long time, Lucien Calloway had been more than just a name to him.
And now?
Now he was just another enemy.
---
Memories That Cut Like Knives
Seventeen years old.
Adrian stood in the middle of the training hall, sweat dripping down his back, fists clenched. Across from him, Lucien Calloway circled like a wolf studying its prey.
"Again," Lucien ordered.
Adrian's ribs ached from the last hit, but he didn't hesitate. He lunged, striking fast. Lucien dodged. Countered. Took him down in seconds.
Adrian hit the mat with a grunt, gasping for breath.
Lucien crouched beside him, his expression unreadable. "Pain is a lesson, Adrian. The world won't go easy on you. So tell me—why should I?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Lucien leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"There is no such thing as mercy. Only strength. And if you don't have it, you don't survive."
Adrian clenched his fists. He wanted to survive.
Lucien smiled. "Good. Then get up."
And Adrian did.
Again.
And again.
Until pain meant nothing.
Until he became the weapon Lucien wanted him to be.
---
Back to the Present
Adrian's voice was quiet when he finally spoke.
"I trusted him."
Evelyn didn't say anything. She just listened.
"He trained me. Guided me. Made me strong." Adrian's hands curled into fists. "And all that time, he was just shaping me into his pawn."
Evelyn's chest ached. Adrian had been fighting ghosts for so long. But this? This was different.
Because Lucien wasn't just an enemy.
He was personal.
Evelyn reached out, placing a hand over his clenched fist. "We'll take him down."
Adrian exhaled slowly, his gaze dark. Colder than she had ever seen it.
"No," he said.
Evelyn frowned. "Adrian—"
"This isn't about taking him down." Adrian stood, his jaw tight. His eyes burned with something deadly. "This is about ending him."
Evelyn had seen Adrian fight. She had seen his calculated brutality, the way he dismantled his enemies piece by piece.
But she had never seen this.
This wasn't revenge.
It was a reckoning.
And Lucien Calloway wouldn't see it coming.