THE BILLIONAIRE WHO REGRETTED LOSING ME

CHAPTER 5

Chapter 5: A Clash of Titans

The air in the marble lobby grew so cold it felt as if the glass facade would shatter from the pressure.

Ethan’s gaze was cold, pinned entirely on the space where Lucas’s hand had just been protecting my waist. He looked completely unhinged a stark contrast to the immaculate, calculating billionaire who usually graced the covers of Forbes. The rain outside cast long, weeping shadows across his drenched white shirt, making him look like a tragic, dangerous specter of the past.

Lucas didn't move an inch. He stood like a monument of absolute authority, completely unbothered by the violence radiating from Ethan.

"Mark," Lucas said, his voice dropping into a low, commanding baritone that brooked no argument. He didn't even look back at his head of security. "Take Jacob up to the penthouse. Wrap him in a warm blanket."

"Yes, Mr. Hart," the guard replied instantly, shielding my sleeping son's face from the flashing ambient lights of the lobby as he hurried toward the secure elevator.

Ethan took a sudden, violent step forward, his eyes tracking the guard. "Don't you dare take my son away from me—"

Before Ethan could even finish the sentence, two heavily armed security details stepped into his path, their expressions grim and hands resting firmly on their holsters. Ethan halted, his chest heaving as his jaw clenched so hard the muscles in his neck strained.

"Your son?" Lucas laughed coldly, a sound completely devoid of mirth. He adjusted the cuffs of his dry, pristine suit jacket, looking down at Ethan with an expression of supreme disdain.

"You lost the right to use that word five years ago, King. When you cast his mother out into a storm, you cast out any future you could have ever had with him. You don't possess this family. You don't even possess the right to breathe the same air as them."

"Get out of my way, Hart," Ethan growled, his fists curling into tight balls at his sides, his knuckles stark white. "This is between me and Amelia. You’re nothing but an investor who thinks a twenty percent stake in her company gives you a stake in her life. She is my woman."

His arrogant delusion of his words made a bitter, toxic fury spark in my chest. I couldn't hide behind Lucas anymore. I wouldn't let another man fight a war that belonged to me.

I stepped out from behind Lucas’s broad shoulders, forcing myself to look directly into the dark, chaotic abyss of Ethan's eyes.

"I am no one's property, Ethan," I said, my voice cutting through the tense atmosphere like a sheet of ice. "And I am certainly not yours. Look at yourself. You look pathetic. You look like a desperate child throwing a tantrum because someone else picked up the toy you threw into the mud."

Ethan flinched, the harshness of my words hitting him like a physical blow. The toxic rage in his eyes flickered, replaced for a fraction of a second by a raw, bleeding vulnerability.

"Amelia... I came here because I saw the photos," he stammered, his voice losing its terrifying edge, sounding suddenly ragged and broken. He reached out a trembling hand toward me, completely ignoring Lucas. "The photos of you two in Paris. He was holding Jacob. You were smiling at him. You never smiled at me like that after the first few years. I built an empire for you, Amelia! Everything I did was to give us the life we always talked about!"

"You built it for your own ego, Ethan," I corrected him coldly. "The moment Sophia lied to you, you didn't ask for a DNA test. You didn't fight for me. You looked at the Morgan family's prestige, you looked at the scandal that might hurt your precious King Enterprises, and you chose your crown over your soul."

"I was trapped!" Ethan roared, his eyes reddening as tears of frustration mixed with the rain dripping from his dark curls. "Your adoptive parents told me they would pull every investor if I didn't marry her! They said they would destroy you legally if you stayed in New York! I let you go to keep you safe from them!"

I stared at him, a hollow, mocking smile appearing on my lips.

"Then you are an even bigger coward than I thought," I whispered.

Lucas stepped forward again, effectively closing the window of communication between Ethan and me. He looked down at the drenched billionaire with an unshakeable, dominant calm.

"You've said your piece, King. Now let me make something abundantly clear to you," Lucas said, his blue eyes flashing with a cold promise.

Your Contract: "The logistics partnership with Maison de l'Ombre is the only thing keeping your international shipping routes solvent this quarter. If you approach Amelia or Jacob again outside of a boardroom, I will personally pull our funding and watch your empire collapse."

Your Status:"You are a ghost to them. I was the one who held her hand in the delivery room. I was the one who stayed up with Jacob when he had a fever in Paris. You contributed nothing but a genetic code that my son will spend the rest of his life outgrowing."

Your Territory: "This building belongs to Hart Industries. You are trespassing. If you are not gone by the count of three, my men will throw you into the street, and I will have the NYPD arrest the CEO of King Enterprises for harassment. Let's see how your board handles that headline."

Ethan’s breathing was shallow and ragged. He looked at Lucas, then past his shoulder at me. He saw the absolute lack of warmth in my eyes. He saw that I wasn't looking at him with anger or even hatred anymore I was looking at him with absolute indifference. And to a man like Ethan King, indifference was far more painful than hatred.

"This isn't over, Lucas," Ethan hissed, his voice dropping into a dark, venomous promise as he slowly backed away toward the grand glass doors. "You can hide behind your security and your wealth for now. But Jacob is my blood. And no one keeps a King from what belongs to him."

He turned on his heel and stormed out into the pouring rain, vanishing into the dark New York night like a bad dream.

The moment the heavy glass doors clicked shut, the fake strength that had kept me standing completely vanished. My knees buckled.

"Amelia!"

Lucas caught me before I could hit the cold marble floor. His strong arms wrapped securely around me, lifting me effortlessly into his chest just as he had done with Jacob minutes before. He didn't say a word. He simply carried me into the private executive elevator, shielding me from the world as the doors closed, whisking us up to the sanctuary of the penthouse.

Inside the sprawling, beautifully lit apartment, the ambient noise of the city was completely muted. The floor-to-ceiling windows showed the rain lashing against the glass, but inside, a warm fire crackled in the hearth.

Lucas set me down gently on the plush velvet sofa. He walked over to the kitchen, returning a moment later with a glass of amber liquid. He handed it to me, sitting down close enough that I could feel the grounding heat of his body.

"Drink," he said softly. "It will help with the shock."

I took a sip of the burning liquid, feeling it slowly thaw the ice in my chest. My hands were still trembling. "He’s not going to stop, Lucas. You saw his eyes. He’s completely obsessed. He’s going to use every legal loophole, every dirty trick in the book to take Jacob."

Lucas leaned back, his expression turning entirely calculating. The gentle protector vanished, replaced by the brilliant, ruthless strategist who had conquered Wall Street.

"Let him try," Lucas said, a slow, dangerous smile spreading across his handsome face. "He thinks he's the only one who knows how to play dirty. Tomorrow morning, I am launching a quiet acquisition of the minor shares in King Enterprises. By the time he realizes what’s happening, I will hold enough seats on his own board to strip him of his CEO title if he dares to file a custody motion."

I looked at him, my heart aching with a mixture of gratitude and fear. "Lucas... you don't have to risk your capital for this. This is my war."

Lucas reached over, his hand gently cupping my cheek, forcing me to look into his intense, fiercely loyal blue eyes.

"It stopped being just your war the moment I fell in love with your son, Amelia," he whispered, his thumb lightly brushing across my cheekbone. "And it stopped being just your war the moment I realized I would burn the entire world to the ground just to keep you safe."

My breath hitched in my throat. The unspoken tension that had lingered between us for three years in Paris suddenly felt incredibly heavy, hanging in the warm air of the penthouse. Before I could answer, my phone buzzed violently on the coffee table.

It was an unknown number.

I picked it up, my heart dropping into my stomach as a text message flashed across the screen.

Unknown:I know about the photos from Paris, sister. If you think you can come back to New York and take e

verything that belongs to me, you are gravely mistaken. Enjoy your son while you can.