CHAPTER 41 – THE AFTERMATH
L U C I A N
I walked out of Hale Atelier with my jaw clenched so tight I could feel my pulse pounding against my teeth.
The air outside was cooler than it had been inside, but it did nothing to calm me. I didn't even remember getting into the car only that the next time I became fully aware, I was sitting in the back seat, my hands curled into fists on my knees, my cheek still stinging from where she had struck me.
No one had ever dared touch me like that.
Not once in my entire life.
And yet she had done it without hesitation, without fear, like she had been waiting for this moment for years.
The car door shut and Silas slid into the seat beside me, the leather creaking under his weight. For once, he didn't have his usual sarcastic smile.
Instead, he was silent.
The driver pulled away from the curb, and we rode in silence for several minutes, the city blurring past the tinted windows.
I could still smell her boutique on me sandalwood and amber and something sharper underneath, like citrus. It clung to my suit, invaded my senses, and it made me angrier.
Angrier because I couldn't stop thinking about her even now.
"She slapped you."
Silas's voice finally broke the silence.
It wasn't a question.
I turned my head slowly to look at him. "Yes."
He whistled low, then leaned back in his seat. "Damn."
"That's all you have to say?" I asked, my tone sharper than I intended.
He gave me a long look. "No. That's not all I have to say. But I was waiting to see if you'd punch a hole in the car first. You've been vibrating like a live wire since we left."
I said nothing.
"She's angry," Silas said after a pause. "And I get it. Five years, boss. She had to raise those kids alone, build something from scratch, hide her past all without your help. Of course she's angry."
I finally snapped my head toward him. "And I'm not allowed to be angry?"
Silas blinked, clearly surprised by the edge in my voice.
"I didn't say that"
"No, you didn't," I cut him off, my voice rising. "But everyone keeps acting like I'm supposed to just quietly accept this. Like I'm not allowed to feel betrayed too. I lost five years. Five years, Silas. I didn't even know I was a father until a month ago!"
My voice echoed in the confined space of the car, and for a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Silas did something he rarely ever did he actually raised his voice back at me.
"You think I don't know what you've lost?" he shot back, his tone uncharacteristically sharp.
I stared at him, caught off guard.
"You think I wasn't there the night it happened? You think I didn't see you the next morning, looking like death, not knowing a damn thing, tearing the place apart trying to figure out what went wrong? You think I didn't watch you spiral for months after that refusing to let anyone close, burying yourself in work until you nearly burned out?"
He leaned forward, his eyes blazing.
"You think I didn't stay up night after night trying to keep the board off your back, running damage control while you were holed up in your penthouse like a ghost of yourself?"
His words hit me like a punch.
Silas never raised his voice at me. Ever.
But now he was looking at me like I was the one who had lost my mind.
"You've carried this like a damn prison sentence for five years," he went on, his voice still hot with anger. "And now you finally find out there's more to the story that there were kids, that there was a woman who went through hell... and you're acting like she's the only one who should get to feel anything?"
I opened my mouth, then shut it.
I had no answer for that.
Because he was right.
I had been living with this shadow over my life for half a decade, punishing myself for something I couldn't even fully remember, letting it dictate everything I did.
And yet, even knowing that, her anger still burned in my chest like a brand.
"She didn't even let me explain," I said finally, my voice quieter now.
"Would you have listened if it were the other way around?" Silas asked bluntly.
I didn't respond.
Because the truth was I probably wouldn't have.
I stared out the window, watching the city roll past in a blur.
"She said to stay away from her and the kids," I said finally.
Silas snorted. "Yeah, like that's going to happen."
I shot him a look, but he only shrugged.
"You're not the kind of man who walks away once you've made up your mind," he said. "And let's face it you've made up your mind about her. You've been different since the moment you saw those kids, boss. We both know you're not going to stop until you get answers. Or until she hears you out."
I leaned back in my seat, exhaling slowly.
He wasn't wrong.
But that didn't mean this would be easy.
If anything, today had made it very clear this was going to be war.
And I had no intention of losing.
We rode in silence the rest of the way back to the penthouse, but Silas's words stayed with me, replaying over and over in my head.
By the time I stepped into my private office, my anger had cooled into something sharper, more focused.
I went to the window and stared out at the city skyline, my reflection ghostly in the glass.
She could hate me all she wanted.
She could slam doors in my face, scream at me, even slap me again if she needed to.
But she wasn't going to erase me from their lives.
Not this time.
Not ever .