Lu Family Ancestral Hall – Under the Harsh White Lights
The air grew impossibly heavy as Grandfather Lu—**the man thought long dead—**stepped fully into the light.
The years had carved deep lines into his face, but his eyes…
Those eyes burned with the same ruthless fire that had once built the Lu Empire from ashes.
Selina's legs gave out beneath her, and she collapsed to the cold marble floor, her fingers digging into the unforgiving stone as her mind spiraled into chaos.
Damian stood motionless, his fists clenched so tightly that veins bulged across his forearms. His entire body radiated a barely contained fury, his jaw locked so hard that it seemed on the verge of cracking.
This can't be real. It's impossible. If he's alive… if he's back… then everything we fought for was nothing but a child's game in the eyes of a real king.
It felt like the entire hall had become a giant chessboard, and Selina realized with bone-deep dread—they weren't the players.
They were the pawns.
Grandfather Lu's voice echoed, cold and absolute.
"Did you think you could rule my empire while I rotted in the shadows, boy?" He turned his piercing gaze onto Damian. "I built this throne in blood. And if you want it… you'll have to bleed for it."
A slow, mocking clap interrupted the tension.
From behind the old man, a new figure emerged—tall, elegant, and painfully familiar.
Selina gasped, her entire world tilting.
It was her mother. Alive. Standing beside Grandfather Lu.
Selina's vision darkened at the edges, her breath coming in shallow, uneven gasps as her mother's cold, dispassionate gaze met hers.
"Mother…?"
So this was it. The final betrayal. The one she never saw coming. The very person she'd longed for, cried for… had been standing beside her enemies all along.
Damian's voice broke through the rising storm inside her head.
"Get up, Selina. This isn't over."
He reached down, pulling her to her feet, his grip strong and unyielding.
In that moment, his hand felt like the only anchor keeping her from being swept away by a tidal wave of despair.
Grandfather Lu's chilling smile deepened.
"You want to keep your precious family, Damian? Then survive the next 30 days. If you can hold the throne until then… maybe you're worthy after all. But if you fall…"
He paused, his gaze cutting through them like a blade.
"This empire becomes hers."
He turned toward Selina's mother, who smiled faintly—cold, calculating, and utterly merciless.