Free Web NovelChapter 318: An Hour
"I managed to buy you some time. I argued with them throughout the night. They said... they’re willing to let this slide if the two of you cast your votes."
Silence settled over the room.
Lukas’s expression stayed tight. Gustav showed nothing.
One could argue it wasn’t their fault — Lucian hadn’t told them about his condition until he collapsed. But keeping their master in good health was precisely their job. It was why Lucian underwent quarterly and annual checkups.
They should have known.
"In my opinion, you should take the offer," Nikki suggested, drawing both men’s eyes. "I don’t think the master would see it as betrayal. He’d see it as us surviving."
She drew a breath. "I’ve already reviewed his medical records and consulted someone I trust in the field. The diagnosis stands. The master won’t survive."
"He’s still alive, but things are already slipping out of our hands," she added, her jaw tightening. "The moment he takes his last breath, it’ll be too late to do anything."
Another silence fell until Gustav’s voice cut through it, quiet and even.
"Did you come here to encourage us to turn our backs on the master?"
Lukas’s face twisted. "Gustav, what the hell is wrong with you? Were you not listening?"
"I was listening. I heard her clearly." Gustav’s eyes stayed on Nikki. "That is exactly why I’m asking."
He let the words land one by one. "Did you come here to encourage us to turn our backs on the master?" ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
"Hah." Lukas leaned back, eyes dark with disbelief. "Unbelievable."
"Gustav, I understand how it sounds — but that is not my intention." Nikki kept her composure. "The master would want us to survive. Not die because of him."
"I disagree," Gustav said flatly.
"Gustav, is that how you repay someone who spent the entire night begging for your life?" Lukas snapped. "How do you twist everything she said into something so malicious? After everything, she still came here for you. How can you be so ungrateful? Is it pride? Is that what this is?"
"Pride and ego will get us nowhere —" Nikki stopped as Gustav cut in.
"Are you in on it too?"
"What?"
"What deal did you make with the High Chamber?" he pressed. "Did they promise you an office on the mainland? A seat at the table? A territory? Your own faction?"
"Unbelievable!" Lukas let out a sharp laugh. "You think she’d make a deal with them? You’ve been questioning everyone’s loyalty since we got here, Gustav. Does it make you feel superior?"
He trailed off and glanced at Nikki, catching the blank look on her face.
The laughter died in his throat. Lines formed across his expression. He tried to smile and found he couldn’t.
"Nikki," he said carefully. "You didn’t make a deal with them... did you? I mean — no one would blame you if you did. It’s about survival now. Right?"
Nikki drew a long breath, then looked between them.
"It hurts that the master is in this condition and there’s nothing more I can do for him," she said quietly, eyes settling on Gustav. "But I have people under me. I couldn’t save his life. I could still save mine."
Lukas went still. His mouth opened and closed. "Nikki, what are you saying?"
"She’s a candidate," Gustav said. "Or positioned to be the next head’s right hand."
The words hit Lukas like a physical blow. His eyes snapped to Nikki, waiting for the denial.
It never came.
He felt his heart drop. He wanted to look away, to cover his ears, but all he could do was stare at her.
The woman he had admired for so long. The only woman who had ever impressed him the way she did — her mind, the way she carried herself. And above everything else, they had been fighting for the same cause. For the same man.
"When I arrived, I recognized a face working for Jony," Gustav said, breaking the stillness. "Someone who answers only to you. I told myself he must have requested a transfer. That you had nothing to do with last night." He exhaled. "I was hoping you’d walk in here and confirm that. But after everything you’ve said... I’m certain now. Last night was your doing."
"No," Lukas shook his head, eyes moving between them. "Nikki, that’s not true. Is it? Like I said, no one would blame you if they offered you something. We’re all just trying to survive."
Nikki pressed her lips together.
"I didn’t have a choice," she said, glancing briefly at Lukas. "They were going to kill all of us if I didn’t decide. The High Chamber was already planning to cut both of you off — everyone under Lucian — the same way he did when he came to power."
She rested her hands on the armrest and pushed herself up, eyes cast down. "I’ll understand if you hold this against me. But I wasn’t lying when I said I fought for your lives."
"You have an hour to decide," she added, her voice cooling. "My men will come for you."
She turned and walked toward the door, then stopped.
"I don’t need an hour." Gustav’s voice followed her. "You already have my answer. I would rather die and rot in hell as Lucian De Luca’s right hand than live as someone else’s lapdog."
Nikki scoffed softly and glanced over her shoulder. "An hour. You might feel differently by then."
She left without looking back.
Gustav and Lukas sat in silence. Gustav turned to Lukas, catching the devastation on his face. Understandable — Lukas never could have seen this coming.
Just as Ashley had once said, history and relationships work like a blindfold. Even when the signs are there, the weight of shared time and connection makes it easy to look the other way.
And that was exactly what had happened here.
Lukas’s admiration for Nikki had blinded him to her greed and ambition — something Gustav had seen clearly from the very beginning.
