For a moment, even the rain seemed to stop.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Elias stood in the mud beside the SUV, tablet glowing pale against his face, his expression frozen between disbelief and dread.
Lucian stared at him.
Allison stared at Lucian.
Theo's face had gone blank in a way that was far more frightening than anger.
Adrian Croft did not blink.
Then Lucian spoke.
Quietly.
"What did you say?"
Elias swallowed. "The clinic file lists you as the father."
Lucian's expression did not change.
But something in the air around him did.
It sharpened.
Hardened.
Turned cold enough that even Simone, who normally had something to say about everything, went completely silent.
Allison's pulse thudded once.
Then again.
A child.
Lucian's child?
No.
Something about that didn't fit.
Not with the way Lucian looked.
Not shocked like a man caught.
Shocked like a man who had just been handed a lie wearing his own name.
Lucian stepped closer to Elias.
"Show me."
