Chapter 17 False assumptions
1402 Words
Jayden’s POV
For several seconds after Elara Reyes walked out of the restaurant, I remained seated exactly where I was.
The chair across from me was empty.
The folder containing the proposal still lay on the table between us, slightly pushed to the side from when she had stood up too quickly.
I stared at it for a moment before leaning back in my chair.
That had ended… unexpectedly.
A faint crease formed between my brows as I replayed the last few minutes in my head.
Everything was going fine. I had finally stopped poking the lady and we had begun talking business when her phone rang.
After that call, it seemed as though the air became heavy. She was impatient to leave.
My fingers tapped lightly against the table.
It didn’t take a genius to guess that whoever had called her was the reason.
The question was...
Who?
The possibility that immediately came to mind was a man.
A lover perhaps.
The thought irritated me more than it should have.
Not because I cared about her personal life.
I didn’t.
But the timing was inconvenient.
Very inconvenient.
Especially considering the fact that the woman in question might be carrying the most useful piece of leverage I had discovered in the past five years.
Children... Which were probably mine.
I exhaled slowly.
Dion had already investigated Elara Reyes... Extensively. Or at least as extensively as the available information allowed.
And that was exactly the problem.
Her past was… incomplete.
For the first time in years, Dion had admitted that he couldn’t produce a full report on someone.
Which meant one of two things.
Either Elara Reyes had lived an exceptionally unremarkable life before arriving in this city, or someone had made a deliberate effort to erase parts of it.
Considering everything else surrounding her, the second option seemed far more likely.
Five years ago, we spent a night together, after that, she disappeared from the city and even went as far as changing her name, almost as though she was purposely trying to make herself invisible.
Like she was hiding from something... Or someone.
My first thought was that she was hiding from me. That she wanted to keep my children a secret... I still hadn't ruled that out of my mind.
Elara Ashford.
When Dion first mentioned the name during one of his reports, it immediately caught my attention.
The Ashfords were not exactly obscure.
They were a wealthy family. Old money. They weren't on par with the Bryes, but they were good enough. Well-known in both business and social circles.
Naturally, I had ordered Dion to investigate them further.
The results had only made things stranger.
Public records showed that the Ashfords had only one daughter.
Just one that they had been hiding away from public eyes for some reason.
I had met the Ashfords once a few years ago, and even their hidden daughter, she didn't seem that special to be hidden away... At least from appearance alone. She was more than average, but that was it.
The Ashfords had no adopted children or even distant relatives living with them.
Nothing.
Which raised a rather obvious question.
Where exactly did Elara Ashford come from?
Who was she?
A cousin? An illegitimate child?
Or something else entirely?
My gaze drifted toward the restaurant entrance, looking towards the path she followed.
The entire situation was beginning to feel less like a coincidence and more like a puzzle someone had carefully assembled.
Unfortunately for them, I happened to enjoy solving puzzles.
My phone vibrated lightly in my hand.
Dion.
I answered immediately.
“Yes, sir,” he said.
“Where did she go?”
“She left the restaurant ten minutes ago. I’ve been following her car.”
Good.
At least one person was being productive today.
“Location?”
“A hospital.”
That made me frown slightly.
A hospital?
Someone must have been hurt.
Immediately, my thoughts shifted to the two children I had seen at the airport.
The twins.
The resemblance alone had been enough to make me suspicious.
But suspicion and confirmation were two very different things.
Still…
If something had happened to them....
I pushed the thought aside and stood up.
“I’m on my way,” I said.
...
By the time I arrived at the hospital, Dion was already waiting near the entrance.
“She’s inside,” he said as we walked in together.
“Did you find out where?”
He shook his head.
“The nurses won’t release patient information.”
Understandable.
Hospitals tended to take privacy rather seriously.
“Keep trying,” I said calmly.
Dion nodded and walked toward the reception desk.
Dion was still speaking to the nurse when my eyes drifted farther down the hallway.
And then I saw her.
Elara.
I paused, and I stopped to stare at her side profile. She had tied up her hair into a high ponytail after leaving the restaurant, revealing her long and slender neck.
My mind couldn't help but bring back glimpses of that night we spent together.
She stood near the corner of the corridor, her back partially turned toward me. One hand rested lightly against the wall as she spoke to someone standing in front of her.
A man.
My eyes darkened, and my face turned hard.
The man leaned casually against the wall, his posture relaxed, as if he had no reason to rush anywhere. Elara stood close enough that their conversation appeared private.
They stood too close to each other. .
A quiet laugh escaped her lips
My expression hardened even more. . The sound carried faintly through the hallway, soft but unmistakable.
I narrowed my eyes at the masculine figure in front of Elara, the temperature slowly coming down a few degrees.
The man said something else that I couldn’t hear, and Elara shook her head slightly, the corner of her lips still curved in that small smile.
She was smiling at him?
Just less than an hour ago she looked guarded, her eyes burning with fury... But she was smiling with another man?!
I felt my blood slowly beginning to boil under my skin. My gaze moved over the man automatically, assessing the man who dared to speak to her leisurely.
His back was turned toward me, blocking any clear view of his face. All I could note was that he wore hospital clothes, and he had black hair.
Still, the details were enough for me to know that my previous thoughts that she was worried about her kids were wrong.
Elara had rushed out of the restaurant because of a phone call. She had come straight to the hospital. And now she stood here talking to a man with an ease that suggested familiarity.
My jaw tightened...
So that was the reason?
It wasn't an emergency, nor was it because of her children, but because of another man?!
For several seconds I didn’t move.
I simply stood there watching them.
The lights of the hallway reflected faintly against the polished floor, but the atmosphere around me seemed to grow colder with every passing second.
My fingers curled slowly into my palm.
Dion had reported nothing about a relationship.
Nothing about a boyfriend. Nothing about anyone remotely close enough to warrant this kind of reaction from her.
Which meant either Dion had missed something…
Or Elara Reyes had been very careful about hiding it.
My gaze remained fixed on the pair ahead of me.
Elara tilted her head slightly as the man spoke again.
And then she smiled.
Something inside my chest tightened.
I didn’t like it.
I didn’t like it at all.
It had nothing to do with jealousy.
At least, that was what logic told me.
But logic didn’t change the simple fact that the sight of her standing there... smiling at another man after walking out of my meeting... was deeply irritating.
Especially when that same woman might very well have given birth to my children.
My eyes narrowed again.
No.
There was no way I was allowing her to have another f*****g relationship. Not when she had my children with her.
With one last cold look in their direction, glaring at the man before turning away.
Maybe it was time to confirm my relationship with the children. I didn't have much time left before my mother would run out of patience.
- Writer
