Chapter 537: Sewer

"Are you going to tell me why you wanted Nikki to remain in the company?"

Lucian’s question stopped Ashley just as she was about to bite into another dumpling.

On the surface, the moment seemed almost too ordinary.

With everything happening in their lives, even sitting down for a quiet meal felt like a luxury. Yet here they were, having lunch across from each other at the same little restaurant Ashley had pointed out in passing a few days ago.

Ashley lowered the dumpling and looked at him.

A second later, her eyes narrowed as a light giggle escaped her.

"How am I supposed to explain this?" she wondered aloud, reaching for her glass of water.

She had known Lucian would ask again eventually.

The first time he brought it up, she had promised to explain when the time was right. Since then, the question had slipped to the back of her mind beneath everything else demanding her attention.

Now, she had to answer it.

But how was she supposed to explain the truth?

Should she tell him this was her second life? That she already knew a crisis would strike the company—and that she intended to let Nikki stand at the center of it when it did?

Lucian narrowed his eyes as he watched her struggle.

"I was reborn," Ashley said.

His brows rose slightly. "Reborn?"

"Mhm."

She nodded, then calmly placed the dumpling in her mouth.

"I’ve already lived through everything that’s happening now," she continued after swallowing. "I know something big is going to happen inside the company. I can’t let you handle it personally because doing so will place you in serious trouble."

"How serious?"

His expression remained composed, even though her confession sounded like a joke she had invented on the spot.

"Serious enough to give Dominion a face," Ashley answered. Then she tilted her head. "Or at least expose the identities of your associates. Once one of them is identified, it won’t take long for the authorities to connect everyone else."

Lucian might be the current face of Dominion within the underground, but his true identity remained hidden from the authorities.

Very few people who had seen the Black Dragon in person were still alive. Those who had survived could only pass around stories about him, never enough evidence to prove that Lucian De Luca and the Black Dragon were the same man.

Even the name Lucian De Luca offered no certainty.

For generations, every don who inherited Dominion had also inherited that name. There were no public announcements when one don died, or another took over. As far as the outside world knew, Lucian De Luca could have been an old man who had ruled the organization for decades.

That was precisely why Ashley had once believed she was being married off to an elderly man whose body might not even cooperate on their wedding night.

Lucian considered her explanation before nodding casually. "I understand. You want Nikki to remain in charge until that crisis arrives."

Ashley blinked, and her chewing slowed.

"Am I wrong?" he asked.

Instead of answering, Ashley studied him suspiciously.

"Lucian, I just told you I was reborn."

"That’s what you said."

"And I don’t mean reborn figuratively, like how I would say I started a new life after Marshal’s death," she clarified. "I mean I died and returned to the past."

Lucian nodded again. "I understand."

Ashley stared at him in disbelief.

"You’re not going to question it?"

"Should I?"

"That’s not—" She shook her head. "You’re simply going to believe me? Just like that?"

Lucian blinked. "Were you lying?"

"No, but—"

Ashley nearly choked when a faint smile appeared on his face.

She leaned back and studied him. The chopsticks in her hand tapped together as she slowly finished chewing.

"Lucian."

He raised his brows.

Ashley swallowed, set down her chopsticks, and rested her forearms on the table.

"If I told you I was actually an angel, would you believe me?"

Lucian calmly swallowed his food before answering. "Are you not?"

Ashley froze.

To Lucian, his wife was surely an angel.

She didn’t possess majestic wings or a glowing halo, but her smile was ethereal. Her presence illuminated his world and filled it with color so effortlessly that he sometimes wondered how he had survived without her.

Before Ashley, everything had been black and white.

Literally.

If her arrival in his life wasn’t a divine blessing—a gift sent from the heavens—then Lucian didn’t know what was.

Ashley’s lips parted, but no words came out.

Eventually, she closed her mouth and smiled.

They were eating lunch inside a small, crowded restaurant. Conversations overlapped around them, dishes clinked against tables, and servers moved constantly through the narrow spaces.

Yet, for Ashley, everything else slowly blurred.

She had revealed her past life almost casually, half-expecting Lucian to dismiss it as one of her jokes. Instead, his unquestioning faith reminded her of how far they had come.

Their relationship hadn’t begun like this.

It had begun with screaming, tears, and countless escape plans.

She remembered the darkness that used to cloud Lucian’s face whenever his men dragged her back after another failed attempt to run away. She remembered the suffocating silence between them and the resentment that had poisoned nearly every moment they spent together.

Back then, Ashley had only seen her own pain.

Her fear.

Her helplessness.

She had never understood why Lucian refused to release her, no matter how desperately she fought to leave.

Now, she couldn’t help wondering how many tears he had shed when no one was watching.

How lonely had he been in a marriage with someone who refused to see his efforts?

How painful must it have been to love someone who made it clear that she didn’t want him?

I promised myself I would never become like Marshal.

Ashley’s smile weakened.

But for a time, perhaps I did.

Lucian wasn’t blameless. He had forced the marriage upon her. He had tried to force affection and loyalty to grow through methods that had only pushed her farther away.

They had both made mistakes.

The difference was that they had eventually learned from them.

"Why are you smiling?" Lucian asked.

Ashley returned her attention to him.

"Because..." She leaned across the table and pressed a soft kiss against his lips.

When she pulled away, her smile widened.

"We’ve come a long way," she said. "And I’m grateful for this life."

Her gaze softened.

"To be able to love someone and be loved in return..." She exhaled quietly. "I was just thinking about how much I love this life."

And she would never allow the events of her first life to repeat themselves.

Not Nikki’s betrayal.

Not Lucian’s death.

Not her own.

Lucian’s expression softened into a small smile. "Me too."

Those two words carried more than he could ever explain.

They held each other’s gaze, smiling quietly across the table.

A dangerous enemy might already be making plans against them. Another crisis could be waiting just beyond the peaceful afternoon.

Yet neither of them felt overwhelmed by fear.

For once, their minds were clear.

They had reached this point because they had chosen to open their hearts, acknowledge their mistakes, and learn from them. They finally understood what they wanted, what they needed, and what they refused to lose.

Instead of fearing the future, they allowed themselves to be grateful for the present.

Lucian reached across the table and took Ashley’s hand.

His fingers slipped between hers.

"After this..." he began, his eyes fixed on her. "Once everything is over, do you like the beach?"

Ashley hummed thoughtfully. "I could live in a sewer as long as I was with you."

Lucian shook his head without hesitation. "I don’t like sewers."

Ashley burst out laughing.

"No matter how much I love you," he added.

In truth, Lucian loved Ashley and Primo far too much to ever let either of them live in a sewer.

"A beach, then," Ashley agreed, squeezing his hand. "Somewhere quiet?"

"Somewhere no one can find us."

"With dumplings?"

"If that’s what you want."

Ashley smiled. "Then it sounds perfect."

For the remainder of the afternoon, they enjoyed their meal as normally as they could.

And in their world, normal had become the greatest luxury of all.