Too close to be a coincidence.Emilia slowly looked up. “Sorry to ask… Do you have a sibling? Or an aunt, cousin—anyone by the name Liora Westley?”Kiara’s eyes darted.“Liora?” she echoed, too quickly. “No… I haven’t heard that name. I have a brother, not a sister. I don’t know any Liora.”Emilia’s lips curved—but it wasn’t a smile. It was something colder.“Oh, that’s a shame. Because if you do know her, I’d really appreciate the help. I’m willing to offer money for it. Since you’re Westley… and she’s Westley… I feel like there has to be a link.”Kiara’s breath hitched.“I—don’t—”“Twenty million,” Emilia interrupted sharply. Her voice was like velvet soaked in poison. “Cash. Wire. However you want it.”Kiara’s mouth opened slightly, but no words came out. Her fingers clutched the edge of her folder.“I told you I don’t know her,” she said again, but there was hesitation now. The kind that Emilia could smell.“Fifty million and I am going to hire you as my personal assistant.” She s
Emilia chuckled. “You don’t have to, I can handle it, what would the people think if they see you at the hospital? Going there is risky” Emilia said.Lucan paused, arching one brow as he adjusted the silver cufflink on his wrist. “Are you sure about that? Because I’m not exactly lining up to hand over another sperm donation. That first one? That was pure charity, Emilia. A mercy drop.”Emilia blinked. “A mercy drop?”“Yes. Because deep down, you and I both know you’re not fit to be a mother,” Lucan said casually, like he was commenting on the weather. “But you insisted. Always insisting.”Emilia’s voice rose, her control slipping. “I am your wife. It’s only right that I have your child, and whether you like it or not, you’re going to give me another sample. Or I swear, I’ll tell your mother and father everything—you won’t touch me, you won’t sleep with me, now you won’t even donate sperm?”Lucan let out a short, humorless laugh. “You’re blackmailing me with reproductive threats now?”
Emilia kept pacing around the doctor’s office. “How do I even tell my husband his sperm went missing? How? And what do we do about the young lady—you ruined her life. How can you let another woman carry my husband’s sperm? You just ruined everything. Just so you know, Doctor, I paid you millions, but you couldn’t even do one thing properly!”“I am very sorry,” the doctor said, swallowing hard. “We will need your husband’s sperm again. That’s the only way out.”Emilia turned sharply. “And what pathetic nurse mixed our files? Where is she? She needs to be sacked.”The door creaked and Maria rushed in, her face pale. Emilia didn’t wait—her hand flew with precision and slapped her hard across the cheek.Maria gasped, stunned silent.“An ordinary nurse in charge of sensitive files, and you couldn’t even differentiate between me and a random nobody?” Emilia shouted, her voice breaking.“I’m so sorry, ma’am,” Maria whispered, clutching her stinging cheek. “All I know is… she came with a frie
LIORAI ran after her even though I didn’t know where she passed but all of a sudden I felt weak, so I walked slowly into the hospital where the nurses were standing.“Hey nurse,” I called out softly to the nurse. “I think I need to get checked too. I’m feeling kinda… weird.”The nurse, a thin woman in scrubs with a tired expression and a pen barely hanging onto her ear, looked up. “Name?”“Liora Westley.”She scribbled something down without asking too many questions. “Symptoms?”“Headache. Fatigue. A little dizzy.”The nurse handed me a short form on a clipboard. “Fill this out and give it back. We’ll slot you in very fast. Might be a wait though but it won’t take long.”I nodded and took a seat. My stomach growled again, louder this time, but I ignored it. I filled out the form quickly, using the edge of my knee as a desk, and returned it to the nurse. The woman took it, nodded absentmindedly, and while answering a call placed it on a stack of other documents sitting on the edge of
LIORA The scent of roasted chicken and garlic filled the house like a cruel joke even when my step mom knows I am allergic to garlic, she still wouldn’t stop cooking with garlic.I stood by the dining room entrance, my arms folded tightly across my chest, my stomach aching from hunger. The golden-brown meat glistened under the light as my stepmother, Veronica, dished generous portions onto three plates—none of which were mine.Kiara, my step sister, sat at the table, she looked radiant in her designer top, her freshly manicured nails clicking against her phone screen. She didn’t even look up when I entered. Veronica finally spoke without glancing at me. “You can stand there. I’ll tell you when you can move.”My mouth tightened, but I said nothing. Speaking only made things worse. My fingers curled into fists at my sides, the faint creak of my knuckles the only sound I allowed myself. My feet ached from a long day at my part-time job, but now here I am again.Minutes turned into an h