A Ruinous Night novel Chapter 7

Lucian finally walked out of the restroom, his tailored suit perfectly pristine, not a single hair out of place.

He made sure to leave me with one final threat.

The gist of it was simple: stay the hell away from his perfect life.

I stood trembling before the mirror, pulling my hair down to hide the vicious, bloody bite mark on my ear.

It was a close call.

The hymenoplasty had cost me a small fortune. Letting him ruin it in a filthy restaurant bathroom would have been a massive waste.

When I finally returned to the table, Julian noticed my hair was down. He leaned in and whispered, "You look gorgeous like this."

He had clearly thrown back a few glasses of red wine; his eyes were already clouded with a heavy, drunken haze.

I gave his arm a gentle squeeze. "You drank too much last night. Take it easy today, or your stomach is going to hate you."

Lucian shot me a piercing glance before looking away and downing his entire glass of liquor in one brutal gulp.

Julian didn't touch another drop.

No matter how hard our old classmates pushed, he rejected every toast. He wasn't falling for their peer pressure.

Lucian, however, was completely unhinged. Every time someone raised a glass to him, he tossed it back without hesitation.

By seven-thirty, Lucian appeared completely hammered. He slumped back into the leather booth, his eyes shut tight, entirely unresponsive to anyone calling his name. Julian had to ask two guys to practically carry him out to the park behind the restaurant.

"Let's just leave him here to sleep it off," I interjected. "Dragging a drunk guy around is just going to make him sick."

Julian thought about it for a second.

"Fair enough."

He nervously patted his jacket pocket, double-checking the small velvet box hidden inside.

The second we stepped out the front doors of the restaurant, Julian's phone started ringing.

"Right now?"

"I can't do it right now, Mr. Forrester. I have a massive personal commitment. Can it wait an hour?"

"I literally cannot leave."

"Is it really a life-or-death emergency? Give it to someone else. I can't do it."

"They specifically asked for me? I've never even met this client! Why the hell would they ask for me?"

It was physically impossible for someone that wasted to sober up that fast. There was only one explanation—he had been faking it the entire time.

I snatched my purse off my chair and spun on my heel.

"You will never join the Lockwood family," Lucian's voice sliced through the air.

He spoke with terrifying absolute certainty, as if he were declaring an inevitable law of the universe.

"You're hilarious, Dr. Lockwood," I shot back without missing a beat. "There are millions of people with the last name Lockwood. I could marry any one of them and technically join the Lockwood family. The only family I can't join is yours."

Lucian's mouth twisted into a cruel smile. "You make me sick."

I dug my nails into the leather strap of my purse, using the pain to ground myself.

"I know exactly how much I disgust you, which is why I've gone out of my way to avoid you. But you knew Julian was my boyfriend, and you knew I'd be at his birthday dinner. Why the hell did you even show up?"

Lucian looked at me with icy indifference. "You knew he was my cousin. You knew that if you dated him, our paths would cross again. How did you have the nerve to even try?"

A sharp, throbbing pain radiated from my ear. The spot he had viciously bitten felt like it was swarming with fire ants.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, genuinely defeated. "I never intended for this to happen. But I fell in love with him, and I couldn't stop it."