Chapter 4
Nathan stumbled backward,
completely humiliated and terrified.
His lawyers exchanged panicked glances,
already calculating the cost of fighting Lucian Blackwood.
They knew it was financial suicide,
a battle they could never win.
"This is not over,"
Nathan hissed,
trying to salvage a tiny shred of his dignity.
"I will demand a DNA test,
I will take this to the highest court."
Lucian let out a dark,
humorless chuckle.
"Do it,
and I will make sure the press knows about your offshore accounts,
and your little mistress."
Nathan flinched as if he had been struck,
the color draining completely from his face.
Without another word,
he turned and fled the room,
his lawyers scurrying after him like frightened rats.
The door clicked shut,
leaving the room in sudden,
peaceful silence.
I stared at the closed door,
unable to process what had just happened.
Slowly,
I turned my head to look at Lucian.
He was adjusting his cuffs,
looking completely unbothered by the confrontation.
"Why did you say that?"
I asked,
my voice barely a whisper in the quiet room.
Lucian walked over to my bed,
pulling up a chair and sitting down beside me.
"It was the fastest way to get rid of him,"
he explained,
his gaze softening as he looked at me.
"And it establishes a legal barrier,
making it nearly impossible for him to claim them immediately."
I bit my lip,
overwhelmed by his calculated brilliance.
"But it is a lie,
everyone will know it is a lie eventually."
Lucian leaned forward,
resting his elbows on his knees.
"Only if we tell them, Ava,
and I have no intention of telling them."
I felt a wave of dizziness,
the monitor beeping slightly faster.
"You cannot just claim my children,
you have your own life,
your own empire."
Lucian reached out,
brushing a stray lock of hair from my sweaty forehead.
"My empire lacks a foundation, Ava,
it lacks a family."
I stared at him,
trying to find a joke or a trick in his eyes.
But there was only absolute sincerity,
and a deep,
hidden pain.
"I saw you on the bus today,
because I was tracking you,"
he confessed,
dropping a bombshell that made my heart race.
"Tracking me?
Why?"
Lucian sighed,
looking down at his large hands.
"Five years ago,
before you met Nathan,
we spent one night together at a gala."
My breath hitched,
memories flooding back through the fog of time.
A masked ball in Venice,
a mysterious stranger,
a night of forbidden passion.
"That was you?"
I gasped,
my eyes wide with disbelief.
"Yes,"
May you like
he murmured,
"and I have been searching for you ever since."
