Pluto Club hummed with soft bass, the low music vibrating through the VIP lounge where Jace had just settled into the leather booth opposite Luke and Dino. Dim lights reflected against the sleek marble table, golden shadows dancing across the men's faces.
Jace crossed his legs, leaned back, and fixed Luke with an icy, piercing stare.
"Of all the moments in this world," he said slowly, voice cold enough to freeze fire, "why did you choose to call me while I was dining with my wife?"
Luke blinked. Hard.
His fingers paused halfway to lifting his glass as his mouth hung open.
"Your… what?" he muttered, looking at Dino as if needing confirmation that he heard right.
Dino looked just as stunned. His brows shot up, eyes wide.
"Did he just say wife?" Dino whispered.
Luke shook his head repeatedly, still trying to absorb Jace's words. "No, no, rewind. Since when do you refer to any woman as your wife with that tone?" He pointed a finger accusingly. "You call her that like you mean it!"
Jace didn't deny it.
He didn't even flinch.
His expression was cool, steady, almost warning.
Dino leaned forward, clasping his hands. "Okay, Jace. Talk.Going to two months you've been married and we still don't know anything. You don't tell us in advance,you don't explain, and last time we saw, Melissa nearly embarrassed herself chasing you around like a lovesick puppy. Now you're here acting like you suddenly have a stable home?"
Luke nodded vigorously. "Yes. Start explaining."
Jace chuckled lightly, an uncommon sound coming from him, surprising both men.
He rubbed his hand across his jaw, exhaling. "Fine. I'll tell you."
Both Luke and Dino straightened up immediately, eyes focused.
Jace leaned back against the seat, his voice steady but low.
"You both remember the drowning incident I had years ago?"
"Of course," Dino answered. "You almost died. Grandpa Arinston went mad with fear."
Luke sighed. "Yeah. Everyone thought you were gone."
Jace nodded. "Well… the person who saved my life was Selena."
Luke's eyes widened. Dino froze.
"Wait," Luke said. "Selena? Your wife Selena?"
Jace nodded again, more slowly this time.
He continued, "When I opened my eyes after swallowing half the lake, drenched and barely conscious… the first thing I saw was her face. She was the one resuscitating me. Her hands were shaking, her clothes were wet from pulling me out of the water, but she still tried to keep me alive. That face…" He paused, eyes dropping briefly. "I remembered it vividly."
Dino whispered, "Jace…"
"After I recovered," Jace said, "I tried searching for her. But I had no name to work with. No details. Nothing. She had disappeared before the ambulance even arrived."
Luke shook his head. "So all these years, you were looking for that girl?"
"Yes," Jace said quietly. "But I never found her."
The men fell silent, absorbing the weight of his words.
Jace's fingers tapped the table absently, as though reliving the scene. "Then one night, a couple of months ago… I visited the family house. And on my way back, right in front of the hospital gate—I saw her again."
Luke choked on his drink.
"You're joking."
"I'm not."
Jace's lips curved slightly, though his eyes remained serious. "She looked almost the same. A bit older, a bit thinner, but unmistakably her."
Dino asked, "Did she recognize you?"
"No."
Jace shook his head. "Not even a little. She had no idea I was the same boy she saved."
Luke stared. "Then what happened?"
Jace's expression hardened slightly. "I went into the hospital and asked the director why she was there. He told me her mother had internal bleeding and needed surgery urgently. But Selena had no money to pay for it."
Dino sighed deeply. "Damn."
Jace continued, "So I approached her. I offered her a three-month contract marriage. If she agreed, I would handle the surgery cost."
Luke's jaw dropped again. "Why didn't you just help her? Why marriage? The girl literally saved your life!"
Jace smirked. "You don't have to know about that."
But Luke wasn't letting him go so easily. "Jace, seriously? You used a contract?"
Jace shrugged, looking away briefly. He wasn't ready to admit the truth—that he felt something when he saw her. That fear surged through him at the thought of her disappearing again. That marrying her was the only way to keep her close without revealing how vulnerable he felt.
He definitely wasn't going to let Luke tease him over it.
Luke rubbed his forehead. "So she agreed?"
"She didn't have a choice," Jace answered bluntly. "Her mother's life was at stake."
Dino sighed. "And Melissa?"
Jace's brows twitched in irritation. "Melissa has nothing to do with this.Do you really think I can be with someone like her?"
Luke leaned back. "Wow… so Selena… she saved you years back, and you married her without telling her she saved you?"
"Yes."
"Why haven't you told her?" Luke asked.
Jace was silent.
Because the moment he imagined her knowing…
Imagined her pitying him…
Imagined her acting differently because she felt obligated…
His chest tightened.
He didn't want her to stay out of guilt.
He wanted her to stay because she cared.
Finally, he answered quietly, "It's not time yet."
Dino exhaled. "You're a mess."
Luke chuckled. "A big one."
Jace gave a faint smile, swirling the drink in his glass. "I know."
Luke leaned forward. "So… how's the marriage going?"
Jace paused.
Images flashed through his mind—Selena looking at him with those calm eyes, her small nod of acknowledgment, her soft laughter earlier that evening when he pulled her chair at the restaurant. The way she looked out of the window, serene and effortlessly beautiful.
His voice lowered unconsciously.
"It's… different now."
Luke and Dino exchanged a knowing look.
"Ohhh," Luke sang, "he's falling."
"Shut up," Jace muttered.
Dino laughed. "Just admit it. You like her."
Jace didn't deny it.
He only said, "I have two months left to make her stay."
Luke blinked. "Stay? You want her after the contract?"
Jace's eyes sharpened, determination flickering in them like flame.
"Yes. I'm going to make her fall in love with me so she can't walk away."
Both men stared at him, shocked by the silent intensity in his voice.
Luke let out a long whistle. "Jace Arinston… in love? Looks like hell finally froze."
Jace didn't respond.
He only leaned back, that same determined glint remaining.
He already knew—
Selena wasn't someone he wanted for three months.
She was someone he wanted forever.