My Second Marriage with the Mafia Kingpin novel Chapter 538

Chapter 538: It Had to Be Him

The rest of the day passed like any other.

At least, it did for Ashley and Lucian.

For Nikki, it was another story.

When she walked out of Lucian’s office, she should have kept going. She should have closed the door behind her and forgotten everything she had witnessed.

Instead, she had made the mistake of looking back.

And there they were.

Ashley had her arms around Lucian, kissing him as though Nikki had already ceased to exist.

"That bitch..."

The wineglass in Nikki’s hand trembled as she stood alone in her apartment, her other hand braced against the bar counter.

"She did that on purpose, didn’t she?"

Her throat tightened.

A painful pressure settled in her chest as the scene replayed in her mind.

All this time, Nikki had believed Ashley was nothing more than a trophy wife—someone young and beautiful enough to satisfy Lucian’s temporary boredom.

Once that boredom passed, he would cast her aside.

It should have been that simple.

That was why Nikki had never considered Ashley a threat.

But things had changed.

Even Gustav now spoke highly of Ashley.

Red had abandoned his former position within Black Dragon’s faction to become one of Ashley’s most loyal men. Dominion might have been a single organization, but it had always contained separate factions with different loyalties.

And Red hadn’t joined Ashley alone.

His entire team had followed him.

Nikki couldn’t care less about the other group Ashley had recently taken in. What she couldn’t ignore was how everyone surrounding Lucian had gradually changed their opinion of his wife.

When Nikki was away, she had refused to believe the reports.

Now that she had returned and witnessed everything herself, denial was becoming impossible.

"Even the young master..." Her voice faded as the image of Lucian and Ashley kissing surfaced again.

"Damn it!"

Consumed by rage, Nikki hurled the wineglass against the wall.

It shattered on impact, spraying red wine across the pale surface. Crimson trails slowly trickled downward among the broken pieces.

Nikki stood there panting, her glare fixed on the stain.

"This can’t continue," she whispered, digging her nails into her palms. "That woman needs to disappear."

Just then, a faint commotion outside interrupted her thoughts.

Nikki turned toward the entryway, deep lines forming between her brows. She approached the security monitor mounted on the wall and switched on the audio.

Several men were gathered in the hallway.

Not outside her apartment.

Outside the neighboring unit—the one Tinie had occupied before his death.

Nikki narrowed her eyes when she spotted Lukas among them.

"What are they doing?"

Curiosity overcame her hesitation.

She approached her front door and stepped into the hallway. The moment she emerged, Lukas—who had been overseeing the men—looked in her direction.

For one suspended second, their eyes met.

Then he looked away.

"What’s going on?" Nikki asked, stopping near him.

Lukas didn’t answer. His arms remained crossed as he watched the men carry boxes and furniture out of Tinie’s former apartment.

Nikki released a heavy sigh.

"Lukas." She turned toward him. "I know you’re still angry with me, but I meant what I said. I hope we can put our personal feelings aside and continue working together."

"It’s already past working hours," Lukas replied without looking at her. "I don’t need to work with you right now."

"Lukas."

"Nikki."

He cut her off and finally turned to face her.

"Are you asking because you genuinely don’t know what’s happening?" His voice was cold. "Or are you only pretending because you wanted an excuse to speak to me?"

Her expression stiffened while Lukas held her gaze.

"Or have you grown so comfortable here that you’ve stopped thinking altogether?"

Nikki’s breath caught. "What?"

It wasn’t his words that affected her.

It was the way he looked at her.

That was precisely why it hurt so much. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

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