My Second Marriage with the Mafia Kingpin

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—

"Did you finally call me by our endearment?" His brows twitched. His steps slowed as he turned toward her.

Ashley looked at him expectantly. "I think you just called me Boo. It was our endearment... right?"

During the Ferris wheel ride, she couldn’t stop thinking about that boy.

The only person she had ever truly considered a friend. And the possibility that Lucian could be him... it might have been the biggest plot twist of her life.

One she had never prayed for. Yet one she would be deeply grateful for.

But after the initial emotions settled, another thought appeared.

What if Lucian had simply used an endearment?

What if everything else was just a coincidence?

After all, the boy from her past had a name.

Silvestre.

And Silvestre knew many things about her time with this friend. He knew things. Things only she and that boy should have known.

So, even with a heavy heart and no small amount of embarrassment, she thought perhaps her emotions had led her to such a ridiculous conclusion. Maybe it was the mood, the fireworks, or everything that had happened tonight that made her think of the boy and secretly hope it was him.

Lucian let out a quiet breath. Then he slowly pulled one hand from his pocket and flicked her forehead.

"Ah!" Ashley covered her forehead despite the fact that it barely hurt. "What was that for?"

Lucian sighed and resumed walking.

"That lakeside was too crowded back then," he said casually. "Do you really not know?"

Ashley froze. Her grip on his sleeve loosened. Her steps stopped completely.

"The small shelter beneath the bridge," he continued. "The older kids who always bothered you."

His voice remained calm.

"And that junkshop owner who paid us almost nothing for the plastic bottles and cardboard we collected because we were children."

Lucian slowed to a stop. A faint, nostalgic smile appeared on his face.

It had been a long time since he had truly looked back on those memories.

For a while now, he had convinced himself there was no reason to. After all, she was already beside him.

The present was enough.

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.