LOGINLIORALucan let out a deep breath. “Emilia, what do you think we should do?” he asked, his voice low, the question aimed at dissolving the quiet that had settled like dust over the table.Emilia blinked, then smiled—slow, controlled, the kind of smile that measured people and found their faults. “I was waiting for you to ask my opinion,” she said, tone honeyed. “Leave her to me. I’ll arrange an apartment, somewhere discrete. She can live there—out of sight. It’s safer for everyone.”Lucan’s fingers drummed once on the table. For a heartbeat I thought he might agree. Then he shook his head. “No,” he said simply. “You don’t have to worry. She can stay. I don’t think she trusts anyone right now. She can live here for a while. I’ll monitor her.”“Lucan,” Emilia’s voice tightened, an edge sharpening, “you are a busy man. You don’t even need to associate with someone of her… station. You are a lady and I am—” Her chin lifted. Pride like a drawn blade.“That’s why I said I’ll handle her,” he
LIORA“I said out of my house!” she snapped, dragging me toward the door.“Please—”“Shut up.” She shoved me forward, and I stumbled outside, barely catching my balance.“Mom, please, I have nowhere—”“I’m not your mother!” Her voice was sharp enough to cut. “Your father is dead, your mother is dead, and if you’re smart, you’ll join them. Get out of my sight.”The door slammed, the lock clicked, and that was it.I hugged my bag against me, trying to shield it from the rain. My shoes slapped the pavement as I moved forward without any direction. The sound of traffic mixed with the pounding rain.Then—blinding headlights.A horn blared. Tires screamed against the wet road.I froze.The car stopped inches from my knees.The driver’s door slammed open, and a tall man stepped out, rain dripping from his dark coat.“Are you trying to die?” His voice was low but carried authority. He stepped closer, his eyes scanning me. “You’re shaking.”“I’m fine,” I said quickly.“No, you’re not.” His gaz
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







