Sansa's POV
"There she is"
On hearing Lucien's voice, I stilled immediately and a cold ran down my spine. I slowly turned to face him to see him standing there with a smirk.
Oh no… no no no… I began to tell myself, but then paused.
Oh yes actually. I said recollecting myself and dropping my fatigued thoughts. I had been so terrified all day that I hadn't given myself time to think logically about my new situation.
'Lucien is in love and obsessed with me, he doesn't even want me to use bad words on myself, talk more, or let someone else hurt me. So maybe he's yet to strategically claim me away?' I pondered.
'That would be good.'
With that thought, I decided not to fight him for now if that was what he was really here for, at least… till the time was right. Who knows, maybe I can get him to get me the suitcase.
"My prince," the boss cut in as he bowed slightly. "Is there something you need?"
"Not something, someone." Lucien corrected with a snicker playing coyly on his lips, making me feel uneasy.
What was he playing at? I wondered.
Just get it over with, Lucien, I muttered inwardly, hoping he would claim me again or have me walk with him so I could run.
"How dare you?" Lucien said suddenly, shocking me as he stepped closer.
The boss and I both frowned, confused by what Lucien meant.
"Huh? My prince—" the boss began.
"How dare you, maid?" he repeated, the snicker on his face disappearing into fury. It made me frown in confusion.
What was going on? How dare I what?
Why was he behaving like this when he had been all over me earlier?
Oh my God.
Was he about to claim me outright in the presence of a guard? I wondered. No, he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't risk damaging his reputation for Omega Sansa—technically me.
Then what was going on?
My mind raced as my heart thudded wildly in my chest. I didn't understand what he was on about.
"You ignored my orders to get my room fixed and my study kept clean, maid?" Lucien asked.
Before I could say anything—before I could even process what he was accusing me of—he quickly added, "And why was my laundry, which I explicitly told you to bring back, returned by someone else?"
His voice rose an octave.
"You dare defy my orders?" Lucien roared, leaving me more than shocked.
Laundry? Study? None of this made sense. What was he talking about? I had seen him only a short while ago. There was obviously no laundry or study activities done in the mating ceremony.
Or was he bluntly saying false things? Or is it the truth?
But how can that be when he acted the way he did earlier? Something wasn't right. He would have told me if that was the case. At least confronted me about not doing his tasks.
It couldn't be. Not with his obsession with Sansa.
My thoughts spiraled, and my chest tightened painfully as he stared daggers at me—especially because he was doing this in the presence of the intimidating man I had just come to know as the head of the Omega distributor.
"When was this, Your Majesty?" the boss cut in gently, careful not to further enrage Lucien. " Because her shift ended two weeks ago. She had been at her other workplace last week and only resumed today. Your majesty," he added, his eyes moving from me back to Lucien.
Even though I wanted to know what Lucien would say, I noticed a flicker of hesitation in his eyes.
Damn you, Lucien.
Of course, it was a lie. He was doing this to get at me.
But he quickly recovered.
"I am—"
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," I said coldly, cutting him off in his attempt to speak hoping he would see it, hoping he would read between my words and know that I understood the game he was playing. And I hoped he realized what a cruel game it was.
Who says false things like this about their lover?
Apparently, Lucien does.
"I think you have me mistaken for someone else," I continued, my voice steady despite the nervousness clawing at me.
"Are you mad, maid? You dare call me a liar?" Lucien growled, fury blazing in his eyes.
Huh?
Before I could even bring myself to reply, the boss quickly spoke.
"Please forgive her, Your Majesty. I will make sure she is duly punished for defying your orders and calling you a liar. Please pardon her. This will never happen again," he said, bowing low.
Wait what? Duly punished?
My heart beat slammed painfully in my chest.
Rage started burning inside me. Punished? For a crime I did not commit?
Lucien was obviously lying, and he was putting me in danger. Worse, he was twisting the situation to make it look like I had done something I hadn't.
What a sick fuck.
"Please forgive her, Your Majesty. I'm so, so sorry about this. I'll bring another maid, if need be, to set and clean the room," the boss added quickly.
"There's no need for that," Lucien said suddenly. "That is why I am angry. The fact that she sent someone else to do a job I told her to do is what annoys me. I've been looking for her ever since until I heard her voice.."
Lucien was still explaining when I cut him off.
"But that's a lie. You know that's a lie. You never told me anything.."
The sharp look from the scary boss almost made me bite back my words—but I couldn't afford to. Lucien was putting me in a position where my life would either be severely endangered or I would be punished. I couldn't take that.
"That's not possible," I said firmly this time. "It's a blatant lie. We never met. He never spoke to me. And even if he did—which he did not—he couldn't possibly know which maid he dealt with, especially when there are tons of maids in the palace. He's not speaking the truth."
"Enough, Omega," the scary boss warned with a low growl, and I shut up immediately.
The way he looked at me made my heart beat unevenly. His eyes seemed to tell me I was in deep trouble—and that he would personally make sure of it.
Not like I had expected him to save me.
In fact, what was I even expecting? Of course, they were all under Lucien.
But I had hoped foolishly that he would have at least a bit of decency to judge fairly and hear me out.
I knew at this point I should apologize to lessen whatever punishment awaited me but I couldn't.
I mean, I should have, if I wanted to be smart about it. But I was too hurt by what he had done—the betrayal, his obsession with Omega Sansa—that I couldn't bring myself to say sorry.
"We are so sorry, my prince." The scary boss's voice pulled me from my thoughts. My gaze shifted to Lucien, who had been oddly quiet.
For a brief moment, I caught a flicker of surprise in his eyes, as though he was studying me. Did he find my actions unusual compared to how the Omega usually behaved?
But I couldn't bring myself to act like her right now. Not when the situation was this tense. Not when he was lying.
If there was one thing I hated, it was someone telling lies about me.
I caught off a wannabe me friend, well ex friend, because she lied that she gave me her lip gloss when the reverse was the case.
Her lip gloss made her look like she applied an oil to her lips but after helping the ingrate she made me look foolish.
"What can we do to appease you, since the job is already done?" the scary boss asked Lucien.
Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no.
I saw a smirk flicker across Lucien's lips before it disappeared just as quickly.
Oh boy.
"Since she refuses to beg or apologize, and instead called me a liar," he said, a coy smile tugging at his mouth, "make sure she is duly punished in a way that she never forgets her place. I would have done it myself, but I wouldn't want to get my hands dirty."
My heart pounded violently.
What did he mean by that?
The coy smile remained as his gaze shifted to the scary boss.
"Do you understand?" Lucien asked, raising one brow.
"Yes, Your Majesty." The scary boss nodded and bowed.
"No. No, you can't do that. I did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong!" I cried.
Lucien smirked before walking away.
"Stop! I did nothing wrong! Don't do this to me!"
I struggled as the guard's hands tightened around my arms roughly and began dragging me away.
"No!" I cried out as I was led farther away from Lucien down the opposite hall.
"Hold on," Lucien's voice cut through the hallway suddenly.
The guards paused and turned to face Lucien just as the scary boss did.
My heart leapt in my chest, hope blooming painfully inside me. Maybe he was about to change his mind. If he loves Sansa as much as he proclaims and shows, I'm sure he wouldn't put me in a position to be punished.
"Once you're done, make sure she is left without food." Lucien continued coldly, "And tomorrow's workload should be entirely hers to handle—without eating."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
My face fell.
"No. No, don't do this. You know I didn't do this. Please stop this ." I begged Lucien but he only gave me an amused look before smirking then turned away from me.
"Please," I cried out desperately. "I'm innocent."