My Second Marriage with the Mafia Kingpin novel Chapter 370

Chapter 370: He Did

"Boo."

Ashley stared at Lucian as a tear rolled down her cheek.

She could only look at him, barely blinking, as memories she had hidden and protected from others—and even from herself—resurfaced and burst open like Pandora’s box.

"How?" she whispered.

Her voice was nearly drowned out by the booming fireworks.

Lucian’s soft eyes remained fixed on her, his lips curling into a faint smile.

"That..." He paused, finally tearing his gaze away from her and looking outside. "That wasn’t your name."

Her breath hitched. The muscles in her neck tightened as she remembered the words she had spoken the first time she heard that boy’s voice.

Or rather, the only time she heard it.

Not long afterward, Scott and several police officers had found her and dragged her back. She had never seen that boy again until recently, when someone introduced himself as that boy.

Questions flooded her mind. One after another until everything went blank.

All she could do was stare at him.

"Hah..." A sharp breath escaped her lips as another tear slid down her cheek.

Ashley turned toward the window, unable to keep looking at him.

The fireworks continued exploding across the night sky. More tears gathered in her eyes. Yet the display remained just as clear.

Just as magical.

"Hah..." Another shaky breath escaped her. "Ha... ha..."

Slowly, through her tears, a smile appeared.

Despite the countless questions swirling in her mind, her heart felt warm.

The amusement park.

The fireworks.

Everything she had seen tonight.

Lucian had prepared all of it for her.

And somehow, the unanswered questions filling her head also filled her heart with emotions she couldn’t even name.

But they didn’t hurt. Not anymore.

They were simply there.

Bright.

Warm.

Chaotic.

Beautiful.

Just like the fireworks painting life across the night sky.

And just like those fireworks, the feelings filling her chest felt beautiful too.

*****

The fireworks display lasted longer than any Ashley had ever seen.

By the time it ended, the Ferris wheel had nearly reached the bottom. After getting off the ride, Ashley walked beside Lucian.

Their pace was slow. Since stepping out of the pod, her head had remained turned toward him. She didn’t even bother looking ahead. One hand gripped his sleeve while her eyes stayed fixed on his profile.

Meanwhile, Lucian deliberately looked elsewhere to avoid her relentless stare.

This was somehow worse than an interrogation.

She stared at him so intensely that it looked as if laser beams might start firing from her eyes at any moment.

"Lucian." Her voice finally broke the long silence.

Lucian straightened slightly. He expected questions. Lots of them.

Why?

How?

When?

What happened?

Instead, what came out was—

But after speaking with the self-proclaimed Great Raka Jean and his absurd time-machine discussion, another idea had formed.

Maybe they couldn’t build a real time machine. But perhaps they could walk through the past together. Perhaps he could remind her that her past wasn’t entirely painful.

Just as he had held on to those memories to survive, perhaps she could too.

Maybe she simply needed a reminder.

Slowly, Lucian turned around. His gaze met hers.

"You once asked me where I had seen you before I proposed." He held her eyes.

"My answer was..." His lips curved upward. "In that cold alley beside the trash bin."

A small laugh escaped him.

"And I wasn’t the one who found you." His eyes softened. "It was the other way around."

Every question in Ashley’s mind disappeared. Because now she knew, she hadn’t jumped to conclusions.

She hadn’t imagined it.

Others might have known pieces of her past.

Others might have learned fragments of the story.

But nobody knew where it truly began.

That alley.

That freezing night.

That tiny moment of freedom.

The same alley that nearly took his life.

Lucian slowly opened his arms. His brows rose slightly.

"Boo," he called softly. Emotion thickened his voice. "I kept my promise."

Ashley bit her lip. Tears streamed down her face as she smiled. Then she ran toward him... and jumped straight into his arms.

He did, she whispered in her heart. He did... keep his promises.