Chapter 10
1063 Words
The whiskey dripping from Lucien's fingers hit the floor with soft taps. Nobody moved Damian, Mrs. Harper, not even me.
The grandfather clock continued ticking somewhere behind us, steady and indifferent, as though nothing had changed.
But something had i could feel it in him.
Lucien Vaughn stood frozen beside the broken glass, the muscles in his jaw shifting once beneath pale skin. The line of his shoulders had gone rigid, and for some reason, the sight unsettled me far more than his coldness ever had.
Angry men made sense.
This… whatever this was… didn't.
The sharp smell of whiskey mixed with coffee and rain. Somewhere outside, thunder rolled lazily through the dark sky.
Damian cleared his throat softly.
"Sir..."
Lucien blinked once just once then his voice came out low.
"Find them."
The words sounded almost too quiet.
Damian straightened immediately.
"Yes, sir."
"Whoever touched those records..."
His fingers tightened.
"...I want names."
Damian nodded once then left.
Mrs. Harper hurried after him, looking as though she desperately wanted to escape.
Soon, only the two of us remained and suddenly the mansion felt too enormous.
Lucien looked toward me, I looked away. Then I walked upstairs not because he dismissed me or because I was scared.
I simply didn't have anything left to say days passed or maybe only two. It just felt longer.
The rain had stopped, but the sky remained gray. I barely left my room.
The curtains stayed half drawn, allowing weak afternoon light to spill across the carpet.
Mrs. Harper brought meals of soup, toast, and fruit.
I barely touched any of it. I didn't have the intention to punish anyone; the food simply tasted wrong.
Everything did, even tea had become bitter. Water tasted metallic even the scent of lavender drifting from the diffuser made my stomach turn.
Pregnancy, apparently or stress maybe both. The baby that thought still felt strange.
Every morning, my hand would unconsciously drift toward my stomach curiously.
As though I was trying to understand what belonged to me anymore.
Lucien adapted because that was what Lucien Vaughn did.
He didn't apologize or ask what I needed.
He simply rearranged the world. Doctors visited the mansion, nutritionists came, two nurses suddenly appeared even security doubled.
Mrs. Harper informed me vitamins had been approved.
As though I was some project or a company merger not a woman.
And then came the meetings the first time it happened, I was reading near the window when the bedroom door opened.
Lucien entered, three men in suits followed behind him carrying tablets and documents.
I frowned.
Lucien loosened his tie.
"Continue."
One of the executives looked confused.
"Sir?"
Lucien sat on the sofa.
"The meeting."
They all looked at me awkwardly and I stared back.
"What are they doing here?"
"Working."
Working?
I laughed softly.
"Inside my room?"
His gray eyes met mine.
"You haven't been leaving your room."
I blinked.
"And?"
"You should not be alone."
Something ugly twisted inside me so this was his solution.
Nothing like affection or concern.
He's just wanting to be efficient, like always not sparing any loose ends.
I closed my book then walked into the bathroom and shut the door.
Behind it, I heard awkward silence.
Five minutes later, footsteps then the door closed.
The meeting had ended.
The second time, I simply ignored him.
The third time, I pretended to sleep.
By the fourth day, something strange happened.
He didn't speak as much probably because I wasn't reacting or arguing or begging for his God forsaken love.
And slowly, I began noticing something unsettling.
He was watching me constantly.
To the extent that sometimes I'd look up and find those gray eyes already fixed on me and every single time, he would look away first.
That night, sleep refused to come. Moonlight spilled across the room and the sheets felt too warm. The smell of rain lingered faintly through the cracked balcony doors.
I sat near the window, wrapped inside a blanket.
The mansion was silent then the door opened quietly.
I didn't need to turn around.
I already knew his slow footsteps. They had already become familiar by now.
He stopped behind me and neither of us spoke.
The city lights glowed beyond the windows like scattered stars.
Finally, he said quietly,
"You haven't eaten."
I kept staring outside.
"I'm not hungry."
"You need to eat."
His voice remained calm.
Always calm and I just found it so exhausting.
"I said I'm not hungry."
"The doctor—"
I closed my eyes of course the doctor, the baby, instructions, orders, schedules literally everything except me.
I laughed softly. Nothing was funny. I was simply too tired to cry.
"You know something?" I said quietly. "I don't even have the energy to be afraid of you anymore."
My fingers tightened around the blanket in my lap.
"Please just get out, Lucien."
I finally looked at him.
"I need space.”
Those words… They hurt him. I didn't need to look, the air itself changed.
I finally turned and Lucien looked almost lost.
I stood up.
"I want to sleep."
He nodded but when I tried to walk past him, his hand moved instinctively. His fingers closed around my wrist.
The warmth of his hand spread across my skin.
And immediately he froze.
I froze too.
Gray eyes dropped to where he was holding me.
For the first time since I'd met him...
Lucien Vaughn looked startled by himself.
His fingers loosened immediately and he let go.
The air between us felt strange, neither of us moved.
Then I asked the question that had been haunting me since the hospital.
"Did you ever love me..."
His eyes lifted, moonlight touched his face.
And for some reason, he suddenly looked tired.
My throat tightened.
"Or was I just convenient?"
No answer came and somehow… His silence hurt more than any lie could have.
The man who bent the world to his will could not answer me.
Outside the bedroom door, unnoticed by both of us, Damian stood frozen.
His hand still rested on the doorknob.
A file in his grasp and as he stared at the DNA report i
nside it, the color slowly drained from his face.
Because the report contained only one line circled in red.
PATERNITY TEST UNAVAILABLE.
BIOLOGICAL FATHER DATA MISSING.
And someone had deleted it.
- Writer
