The Triplet Alphas Second Chance Luna.

Ella.

We got to my room, and the second the door clicked shut behind us, Lurgard finally released my hands.

The warmth of his grip disappeared instantly, leaving behind a strange emptiness that I refused to acknowledge.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then Lurgard scratched the back of his head awkwardly, his usual confidence nowhere to be seen. It was almost amusing watching someone like him struggle to find the right words.

"About what just happened downstairs, I hope you don’t take it to heart," Lurgard said eventually.

His voice was surprisingly gentle, his eyes searched mine deeply, as if trying to determine whether I was angry, hurt, or simply pretending not to care.

I scoffed.

The sound escaped before I could stop it.

"I did not," I replied, folding my arms across my chest. "It’s just that your sister is one hell of a good actor."

The memory of her performance downstairs immediately resurfaced in my mind.

Honestly, if I hadn’t witnessed everything myself, I probably would have believed her too.

Lurgard raised an eyebrow, and whether he was confused or amused, I couldn’t tell and frankly, I couldn’t care less because I was exhausted—be it physically, mentally and emotionally.

Everything about today had drained me.

"Forget about it, okay?" I said after a brief pause. "You can leave now. I need to rest."

Without waiting for his response, I turned away from him and headed further into the room.

Unfortunately, Lurgard seemed to have developed a talent for ignoring obvious hints.

"You really aren’t going to chase me away, Theresa?" he asked almost immediately.

I stopped walking.

"I mean," he continued, completely oblivious to the danger he was walking into, "I still need to watch over you."

I rolled my eyes so hard I was surprised they didn’t get stuck.

Of course.

Of course he would say that.

"To rest, I would need to freshen up," I said through clenched teeth while turning back to face him. "So you can’t be here."

I emphasized every single word, clearly, slowly and carefully. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

As if I was speaking to a child.

Yet somehow, it still wasn’t enough.

"Well," Lurgard said casually, completely unfazed. "I can assist you with that."

There was instantly a dangerous silence.

For one full second, I simply stared at him, and then my face instantly reddened, not from excitement, not from shyness and not from embarrassment.

It was pure and unfiltered rage.

The nerve of this man.

The absolute audacity.

Did he have a death wish?

"GET OUT!" I yelled.

My voice exploded through the room so loudly that even the walls seemed to shake from it.

Lurgard visibly flinched.

And I was more than satisfied with that, at least one of us still possessed common sense.

Just then, before another argument could begin, my phone buzzed loudly inside my pocket.

The sound instantly cut through the tension, and while still frowning, I pulled it out.

The screen lit up, and the moment I saw the name displayed there, my expression shifted.

Michael.

A slow breath escaped my lips.

Immediately, I remembered the last message he had sent while I was still at the office.

> "Let’s hang out together, Ella. I would really love to know you more!"

My gaze lingered on the words for a long moment, my thumb hovering slightly above the screen as if I could somehow figure out what to say just by staring hard enough.

I still hadn’t replied to the previous message—not because I wanted to ignore him, but because I genuinely didn’t know how to respond without making it awkward or reading too much into it.

The message itself wasn’t inappropriate and It wasn’t pushy.

If anything, it was simple...and sincere.

And somehow, that sincerity made it even more complicated.

I exhaled quietly, lowering my lashes for a second as I tried to gather my thoughts.

I hadn’t known how to respond when I first received it, and judging by the fact that I was still stuck in the exact same position now—staring at yet another message—I clearly hadn’t made any progress.

My thumb hovered over the screen again, uncertain, hesitant, caught somewhere between replying and pretending I never saw it at all.

And just then, another notification popped up.

A new message.

Yet from Michael again.

My eyes narrowed slightly as I read it, the content only confirming what I already suspected: more encouragement, more insistence, more of him trying to convince me to spend time with him...alone.

My grip on the phone tightened almost unconsciously.

He really did want a private moment, just the two of usbwith no interruptions and no excuses.

The thought alone made my chest feel strangely tight, though I couldn’t even explain why.

Before I could get lost any deeper in it, a voice suddenly cut through the quiet space around me.

"Who’s that, Theresa?" Lurgard asked, his curiosity instantly flaring as he leaned slightly closer, clearly trying to angle himself for a better view of my phone screen.

My reaction was almost immediate.

I tilted the phone away from him sharply, shielding the display before he could catch even a glimpse of the message.

Too late for curiosity.

Too risky for him to see.

"Don’t let your neck fall off, Lurgard," I said instead, my tone flat as I narrowed my eyes at him, deliberately shifting the energy away from the phone in my hand.

He blinked, but I didn’t give him time to press further.

There was no way—absolutely no way—I was letting him find out it was Michael.

Not because I owed him secrecy but because I already knew exactly how that information would spiral in his hands.

Knowing Lurgard, Michael’s life would become a living nightmare before the day was over.

Lurgard immediately straightened.

A faint blush crept onto his face, making him look unexpectedly guilty.

"I wasn’t trying to look!" he protested quickly, the words rushing out of his mouth far faster than necessary, as though speed alone could prove his innocence.

The defense came far too fast...and honestly, far too suspiciously for my liking.

It almost sounded rehearsed.

I merely stared at him in silence, letting the weight of my gaze do the talking instead. My expression didn’t shift, didn’t soften, didn’t offer him even the smallest hint of belief.

"Sure," I said dryly, my tone flat and unimpressed.

For a brief second, I expected him to either argue further or retreat.

Instead, Lurgard suddenly stepped closer.

Before I could even process what he was doing—or decide whether I should step back—his hand slid around my waist with a surprising ease and gently pulled me toward him.

The movement was smooth, deliberate, and entirely disarming.

It stole the air from my lungs in an instan, and my body stiffened on instinct.

"What do you say about us continuing from where we stopped?" he asked, his voice had dropping lower and softer.

And far more intentional than before.

It wasn’t just confidence anymore.

It was dangerously confident...the kind that made it hard to tell whether he was joking or completely serious.

His hold on my waist tightened slightly, firm enough to make me aware of every inch of distance that no longer existed between us.

And this time, it was my turn to blush, as heat rushed straight to my face.

My eyes widened in disbelief.

What the fuck?

For a second, my brain seemed to completely short-circuit.

Lurgard, however, appeared completely unaware of the chaos he was causing.

Or perhaps he knew exactly what he was doing.

Neither option was reassuring.

Before I could formulate a proper response, he suddenly wrapped his arms around me completely.

The action caught me entirely off guard.

My body stiffened instantly.

His chin rested lightly against my shoulder as he held me close.

"I have been wanting to say this all my life," he murmured quietly, his voice lacking its usual teasing edge and for once, it sounded genuine, serious and almost vulnerable.

My heartbeat immediately picked up speed.

A strange tension filled the room. The kind that made every second feel longer than it actually was.

"And I guess now is the best time," he continued.

I swallowed hard, my fingers tightened slightly around my phone.

"I lo—"

He never got the chance to finish.

The words were abruptly cut off by the sudden sound of the door bursting open.

Both of us froze.

The interruption was so unexpected that the atmosphere shattered instantly.

"Why the hell are you so close to her?" Lawrence’s voice rang through the room the very second he stepped inside.

The anger in his tone was impossible to miss and my head snapped toward the doorway.

Lurgard’s body went rigid.

And the room seemed to fall into complete heavy, dangerous and oppresive silence.

The air itself felt different now, thick enough to suffocate.

The warmth that had filled the room seconds earlier vanished completely, replaced by something far more unsettling.

And immediately, the tension in the room skyrocketed.