Chapter 9

Lucian sat in the back of his darkened Maybach, the blue light of his tablet illuminating the cold fury on his face. He was staring at the legal motion Serena’s lawyers had just filed. They were digging into Elara’s psychiatric history from five years ago, claiming she was "delusional" and "unfit" during the divorce.

"They want to play dirty?" Lucian whispered, his voice a low growl. "I’ll show them what dirty looks like."

He tapped a button. "Marcus, I’m at the clinic. The one Elara used five years ago. I don't care about the subpoenas. I want her full file on my desk in five minutes. If the hospital director argues, tell him I’ll buy the building and fire him by lunch."

Four minutes later, a digital file encrypted with the highest security appeared on his screen.

Lucian began to scroll. He expected to see records of her "instability" or perhaps the "leaked formulas" the villainess had planted.

Instead, his heart stopped.

The first document wasn't a psychiatric report. It was a bill from a fertility clinic.

Patient: Elara Thorne. Procedure: Hormonal Therapy and IVF Consultation.

Lucian’s breath hitched. He remembered those months. He had been so busy with the Thorne-Valenti merger that he had barely spoken to her. He remembered her being tired, her eyes often red from crying, her body changing. He had assumed she was just being "difficult." He had even told her to "get over herself" when she complained of nausea.

He scrolled further.

Date: October 14, 2020. (Three days before he handed her the divorce papers). Ultrasound Report: Confirmed Twin Pregnancy. Gestational Age: 8 Weeks. Note: Patient requested a 'Surprise Reveal' package for her anniversary.

The tablet slipped from Lucian’s hands, clattering onto the floor of the car.

She hadn't just been pregnant. She had been undergoing painful, exhausting treatments to give him the family he had always claimed he wanted. She had been planning to surprise him on their anniversary—the same night he had brought his mistress home and accused her of being a criminal.

The "confession" he thought she’d made by leaving? It wasn't a confession of guilt. It was a flight for survival.

"I didn't just throw her out," Lucian choked out, the air in the car suddenly feeling thin. "I threw them all out. I almost killed them."

---

Elara’s Penthouse – Midnight

Elara was startled by a frantic pounding on her door. She checked the security camera and saw Lucian. He wasn't the "Shark" tonight. He was soaked from a sudden downpour, his hair matted to his forehead, and he looked like a man who had seen a ghost.

She opened the door, her expression guarded. "Lucian, it’s midnight. The children are—"

He didn't wait for her to finish. He fell to his knees in the hallway, right at her feet.

"I saw them," he sobbed, his shoulders shaking violently. "The records, Elara. The fertility clinic. The ultrasound from the fourteenth."

Elara froze. The secret she had guarded like a dragon’s hoard was finally out. She leaned against the doorframe, her legs feeling like jelly.

"You had no right to look at those," she whispered, her voice trembling.

"I was trying to protect you from Serena’s lawyers!" Lucian cried, looking up at her with eyes full of agony. "But I realized... the person you needed protection from most was me. You were going through that alone? The shots? The hormones? The nausea? And I told you to 'stop being dramatic'?"

He grabbed the hem of her robe, his forehead resting against her knees. "I’m a monster, Elara. A blind, arrogant monster. I didn't deserve those children. I don't deserve to breathe the same air as you."

Elara looked down at the man who had once been her sun and her moon. Seeing him like this—broken, sobbing, and truly understanding the weight of his cruelty—didn't give her the joy she expected. It only felt like a heavy, cold rain on her heart.

"You're right," she said, her voice barely audible. "You didn't deserve them. Do you know I almost lost Leo in the second trimester because of the stress? Do you know I had to work three jobs in Paris because I was terrified you'd find me and take them away just to spite me?"

"I would never—"

"You would have!" she screamed, the five years of rage finally erupting. "The Lucian Thorne I knew back then would have taken them just to win! You would have put them in a nursery and seen them for ten minutes a day between meetings!"

Lucian didn't argue. He couldn't.

"I'm staying," he said, his voice cracking but firm.

"What?"

"I’m staying at the door. I’m not leaving until you believe that I would die for you and those kids. I don't want the company. I don't want the money. I just want to be the man who makes sure you never have to be 'strong' alone ever again."

"Go home, Lucian," Elara said, trying to close the door.

"No," he said, his hand stopping the door. "I'll be right here. Tomorrow morning, when Leo and Mia wake up, I want them to know that their father is someone who stays. Even when it’s raining. Even when he’s not wanted."

Elara stared at him for a long beat. She saw the resolve in his eyes—a different kind of resolve than the one he used for business. This was the resolve of a man who had found his soul and was terrified of losing it again.

She closed the door.

She sat on the floor on the other side, her back against the wood. Through the door, she could hear his ragged breathing.

Outside, the storm raged. Inside, for the first time in five years, the silence didn't feel quite so lonely.