CHAPTER 13 THE COST OF TAKING HER FOR GRANTED
Lucien had always believed consequences arrived loudly.
A failed business deal.
A collapsing investment.
A rival taking advantage of weakness.
Those were the kinds of consequences he understood.
But losing Seraphina was different.
There was no dramatic announcement.
No headline.
No single moment when everything collapsed.
There was simply an empty place beside him.
And it was becoming more painful every day.
Two weeks had passed since Seraphina left.
Lucien had stopped asking when she would return.
He had stopped telling himself she only needed a little more time.
The truth was becoming impossible to avoid.
She might never come back.
That thought followed him everywhere.
At the office, he found himself staring at his phone between meetings.
At home, he noticed every room she had once occupied.
At night, he reached across the bed before remembering.
He hated the instinct.
He hated how quickly his body remembered her even when his pride tried to deny how much he missed her.
One afternoon, Cassian walked into his office.
"You look like you haven't slept."
"I haven't."
"Have you heard from Seraphina?"
"She replied to one message."
"What did she say?"
"She thanked me for respecting her space."
Cassian nodded.
"That's progress."
Lucien looked at him.
"She sounded distant."
"She's supposed to."
Lucien frowned.
"Why?"
"Because she doesn't trust you yet."
The words hurt.
But Lucien didn't argue.
Instead, he looked down at the photograph on his desk.
Seraphina was smiling in it.
"I thought she trusted me."
"She trusted you to stay the same."
Lucien looked up.
Cassian continued.
"That's why your promises meant so little. You promised things, then went back to the way you were."
Lucien leaned back.
"I understand now."
"Understanding is the easy part."
"What is the hard part?"
"Changing when nobody is watching."
Lucien was quiet.
That evening, he did something he had never done before.
He went through the foundation's records himself.
He found every decision Eveline had made concerning Seraphina.
Every event where Seraphina had been removed.
Every complaint that had been dismissed.
Every occasion where Eveline had inserted herself into their marriage.
And then he found something else.
A report from three years earlier.
It concerned Seraphina's first major charity project after their wedding.
She had wanted to establish a scholarship program for young women from disadvantaged families.
Lucien had approved the funding.
But the project had never happened.
The report showed that Eveline had rejected it.
Reason:
Not aligned with Armand family priorities.
Lucien stared at the page.
He remembered Seraphina mentioning that project.
She had been excited.
He had told her they would discuss it later.
They never had.
He had forgotten.
She hadn't.
He closed the file.
That was the cost.
Not simply losing his wife.
Losing the memories of who she had been before disappointment slowly changed her.
The next morning, Lucien contacted the foundation director.
"I want Seraphina's scholarship project reinstated."
The director hesitated.
"Does Mrs. Armand know?"
"No."
"Shouldn't we ask her?"
Lucien paused.
"Yes."
He changed his mind.
"Don't launch anything without her approval."
He wasn't going to use her dream as a way to win her back.
If she didn't want it anymore, he would respect that.
Later that day, Lucien drove to the neighborhood where Seraphina lived.
He didn't go to her apartment.
He parked across the street and watched from inside his car.
He saw her leave a small café carrying a folder.
She was wearing a simple cream coat.
She looked different.
Not unhappy.
Not broken.
Peaceful.
She stopped to speak with an elderly woman outside the café.
The woman laughed.
Seraphina smiled.
Lucien watched.
Something inside him twisted.
She looked happy without him.
That should have made him angry.
Instead, it humbled him.
He had spent years believing his wealth gave Seraphina a life she couldn't possibly want to leave.
He had been wrong.
She didn't need his mansion.
She didn't need his name.
She didn't even need his money.
She had needed him.
And he had given her everything except himself.
His phone rang.
He answered.
"Lucien."
It was Arabella.
"What do you want?"
"I think we need to talk."
"No."
She sounded surprised.
"Lucien—"
"There is nothing left to discuss."
"I never wanted to destroy your marriage."
"Maybe not."
His voice remained calm.
"But you allowed yourself to become part of something that hurt my wife."
"I care about you."
"You cared about what we used to be."
Silence.
Lucien continued.
"That past is over."
"You don't know what you're saying."
"I do."
He ended the call.
For once, there was no hesitation.
No guilt.
No concern about appearances.
His marriage was no longer something he would protect only when it became convenient.
It was his responsibility.
That evening, he received a message from Seraphina.
Thank you for the letter.
Lucien stared at it.
He typed:
You're welcome.
Then deleted it.
He tried again.
You don't have to thank me.
He sent that instead.
Her response came several minutes later.
I know.
Lucien smiled faintly.
Those two words carried more meaning than he expected.
She wasn't forgiving him.
She wasn't returning.
But she was speaking to him.
He wanted to ask where she was.
What she had done that day.
Whether she had eaten.
Whether she was sleeping well.
The ordinary questions he had failed to ask when she was beside him.
Instead, he wrote:
I hope you're doing well.
She replied:
I am.
Lucien read the message.
Then he placed the phone down.
For once, he didn't ask for more.
He was learning.
Love was not about possessing someone's presence.
It was about respecting their freedom.
The following week, Lucien changed the way he worked.
He left the office earlier.
He stopped allowing meetings to consume every evening.
He started making decisions based on what mattered instead of what looked impressive.
He told the board that his marriage was private and no family member had authority to interfere with it.
He confronted Eveline again.
But this time, he didn't argue.
He simply told her:
"If you cannot respect Seraphina, you cannot expect access to my personal life."
Eveline was furious.
Lucien accepted it.
He no longer needed her approval.
Yet none of those changes guaranteed Seraphina would return.
That was the hardest part.
For the first time, he was changing without knowing whether he would receive anything in return.
And perhaps that was the real cost of taking her for granted.
Lucien had assumed Seraphina's love was permanent.
Now he understood that love could survive neglect for a long time.
But eventually, even love could become tired.
And when it finally walked away, money, power, and apologies could not simply buy it back.
He had lost the certainty that she would always be there.
Now, if he wanted her again, he would have to earn every step toward her.
One day at a time.
Without demands.
Without excuses.
Without expecting her to save him from the consequences of his own choices.