Page 177 of King of Ruin

The more Lucius watched, the more suspicious his gaze became.

Something about the way they interacted bothered him. The familiarity between them, the closeness, the way she looked so relaxed beside a man that wasn’t Xavier—it all made him continue staring, trying to understand what exactly he was seeing.

After watching them for a little longer, Lucius finally reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

He dialed Xavier’s number.

The call connected after several rings, but there was no greeting on the other end.

Only silence.

Lucius kept his eyes on Elise as she smiled at the man sitting across from her, completely unaware of the storm he was about to unleash.

“If you stay silent right now,” Lucius drawled, “you’re going to lose your future wife to another man.”

The reaction was immediate.

A sharp movement came from the other end of the call, followed by the sound of something shifting. Then Xavier’s rough voice cut through the silence, no longer calm.

“What?”

His voice was loud, the tension immediately obvious.

Lucius continued watching Elise and the man sitting across from her.

"She is here," he said. "She just came on a dinner date with a man."

The silence on the other end disappeared completely.

"He grabbed her hand and brought her inside to have dinner with him," Lucius continued. "He grabbed her hand and brought her inside himself. They're sitting together now, talking, and she's laughing with him."

His gaze remained on Elise as she smiled at something the man said, the sight making his suspicion grow stronger.

"They look pretty comfortable with each other," Lucius added, his voice becoming more serious. "The way they're acting... it looks like this could end with them in bed."

Before Xavier could respond, Lucius lifted his phone and snapped a picture of them together. A second later, he sent it.

The notification beeped on Xavier's phone.

The moment he heard it, Xavier looked down at the screen.

The picture opened, and his eyes immediately locked onto the image. He zoomed in, staring at it far closer than necessary.

Then he recognized the man beside Elise.

His heart slammed violently against his chest.

The jealousy that he had been desperately trying to suppress for days—the same jealousy that had been eating away at him, the same unbearable urge to hunt her down and bring her back—came rushing back with a force that nearly knocked the air from his lungs.

He had spent days forcing himself to stay away.

He had buried himself in work, pretending that if he kept busy enough, he wouldn't think about her. He had stayed in the office until late hours, operated like a machine, and avoided going back to an empty mansion because every corner reminded him of her.

But one picture was enough to destroy every bit of restraint he had built.

The sound of his chair scraping violently against the floor echoed through the silent office of the Chen Group.

For days, everyone had watched Xavier turn into someone they barely recognized. He had worked endlessly, barely speaking, his temper sharper than ever. The entire company had felt the weight of his anger.