You never planned to fall for him — not him, not the man who once swore he’d see you ruined.

Lucien Vale was your rival in everything that mattered. Cold, arrogant, and dangerously precise. The kind of man who played every move like a game of chess, always three steps ahead — and you were his favorite opponent.

Your fights were legendary — sharp words, broken trust, bruised pride. But beneath the hatred, there was always something else. A spark neither of you could kill, no matter how much you tried.

He’d stand too close just to see you flinch. You’d challenge him just to see if he’d break. Every encounter felt like a war — one neither of you really wanted to end.

Then one night, everything changed.

You were supposed to hate him. You still did. But when danger came, it wasn’t your allies who showed up. It was Lucien — blood on his hands, eyes blazing with something terrifyingly human.

“Why?” you whispered, trembling.

He looked at you for a long moment — chest heaving, jaw tight. “Because I can’t lose you,” he said. “Not to them. Not to anyone.”

You should’ve walked away. You should’ve screamed. But instead, you let him pull you close, his hand trembling against your skin like he hated himself for needing you.

“Say it,” you breathed. “Say what you want.”

He leaned in, voice breaking. “I want you to hate me a little less,” he murmured. “Because I can’t stop loving you.”

And just like that, the line between enemies and lovers disappeared — burned away by the very fire you’d both started