Two months quietly slid in silence.
In the corporate world, Lucas Elliot had successfully launched the Nile Town expansion silencing Uncle Spencer and his associates. In the underworld, Elian had become a myth, a shadow that the Cartel now respected more than ever.
But in the Oakhills district, the world was falling apart.
Beatrice sat on the edge of the bathtub in her small apartment above the shop, staring at the plastic stick in her hand. The Two red lines. Bold and undeniable.
"No," she whispered, her voice trembling. "No, no, no."
The morning sickness hadn't been a virus. The fatigue hadn't been from overworking.
" O God" she panic, what was she going to do. She didn't even know him that well.
...
Beatrice POV.
"Bea? Are you in there?" I heard my father's voice knocked on the door. He sounded older lately, the stress of the mounting debts and Charlotte's constant disappearance taking a toll.
"I'm coming, Dad," I said, hiding the test in a drawer.
I walked into the kitchen, where Charlotte was sitting, looking smug. Charlotte had been spending money she didn't have, wearing jewelry that looked suspiciously like a gift from someone high-up.
"You look pale, sister," Charlotte smirked, her eyes scanning me slightly. "Are you sick? Or is that 'special night' finally catching up to you?"
"Shut up, Charlotte," i snapped at her.
"Make me," Charlotte countered. "But you should know... Dad found the medical bill you tried to hide. He thinks you're ill. Imagine his face when he finds out his perfect daughter is carrying a nameless bastard."
...
Later that evening the tension in the Kingston house snapped. My father had found the test. The shouting could be heard from the street.
"Who was he, Beatrice?!" he roared, his face red with a mix of betrayal and heartbreak. "I sacrificed everything for your reputation! And you throw it away for a random man in a hotel?"
A child, Beatrice?" My mum held the pregnancy kit in her hands, her voice was surprisingly soft, but it cut deeper than my father's shouting. "I work twelve-hour shifts at the hospital to keep this family afloat, and you... you let this happen?" I could hear the disappointment in her tone.
I couldn't believe this was happening to me
"It wasn't like that, Mum.... Dad!" I cried, tears streaming down my face. "I was drugged! I didn't choose this!" I tried to explain, but what was the point of explaining.
"Drugged? By who? Your sister was with you!"
Charlotte stood in the corner, with a cold smile on her face. "She's lying, Dad. She went to that room willingly. She wanted a taste of the high life."
I looked at my sister, seeing the monster Charlotte had become. "You... you're the one who led me there!"
"Enough with the lies, Beatrice!" My dad roared, slamming his hand on the wooden table. "Your sister was there to celebrate you! Why would she do something so monstrous?"
Charlotte sat in the corner, her legs crossed, a look of faux-sympathy plastered on her face. "It's okay, Dad. She's just scared. She probably doesn't even know which man it was."
The insult was my final straw. I opened her mouth to scream, but the sound was drowned out by a heavy, metallic thud from downstairs. The entire building seemed to shudder.
"What was that?" I heard my dad gasped, reaching for a heavy tailor's shear.
My mum moved to the window, pulling back the curtain. Her eyes widened. "Hogan... there are men in black. Armed men. And a car... a car that looks like it belongs to the government."
...
Lucas POV.
I stepped out of the Maybach, the evening drizzle instantly coating my charcoal overcoat.
"Secure the perimeter," I commanded. "If any of Damien's scouts show their faces, put them in the dirt."
"Understood, Elian," the Shadow Army lead replied.
I climbed the narrow, creaking stairs, Tyler following a half-step behind. I didn't knock. I pushed the door open.
The room froze. Hogan Kingston stood with a pair of shears held high; Nova was tucked behind him with widened eyes and Beatrice... Beatrice looked like a ghost that had finally been cornered.
"Who the hell are you?" Hogan demanded, his voice trembling.
I didn't look at him. I walked straight to Beatrice, "We didn't finish our conversation at the shop, Miss Kingston. And the variables have changed."
"Lucas, wait," Tyler whispered, stepping forward. He was looking at the pregnancy test Nova had dropped on the table.
The room went silent. I followed Tyler's gaze. The two red lines stared back at me. I closed my eyes and exhaled, registering the whole situation.
I felt a surge of something cold and pure, stirring up within me. Of course it was no the seizures it was something more.
"Is this true?" I asked, my voice dropping to a register that made Nova gasp and step back.
Beatrice didn't look away this time. Tears tracked through the dust on her cheeks, but her gaze was fierce. "Yes. It's true. And if you're here to buy my silence, you can leave."
I felt a slight pain at her words .
"I don't buy silence," I said, stepping closer until I could smell the jasmine and the faint, medicinal scent of the hospital clinging to Nova. "I secure legacies. You are no longer safe here. Damien's men are already watching this street. They don't care about your fashion shop; they care about the leverage you're carrying in your womb."
"Damien?" Hogan asked, lowering the shears. "Who is Damien?"
"A man who would burn this building down just to see me flinch," I replied. I turned to Nova. "Mrs. Kingston, I respect your profession. But your daughter is currently the most hunted woman in Flensburg. She is coming with me to the Elliott Mansion."
"Like hell she is!" Arthur stepped forward, but Tyler moved in time placing his firm hand on the older man's chest.
"Easy, pops," Tyler said, his voice light but his eyes lethal. "The Ice King isn't asking. He's protecting. You want your daughter to live to see that baby? She stays with us."
Nova looked at me, with maternal fear. She saw the tremor I couldn't hide in my left hand, the mark of my Agnosia. She saw the power, but she also saw the brokenness.
"Go, Beatrice," Nova whispered, her voice trembling. "If what he says is true, then you aren't safe here."
I didn't wait any more second. I reached out, my hand closing around Beatrice's arm. Her skin was warm.
"Come," I said.
As we walked down the stairs, the Shadow Army formed a human corridor. Beatrice clutched her small bag to her chest, her world spinning. She was leaving the Oakhills, carrying a secret that would either save the empire or burn it to the ground.
As the Maybach sped away, I looked at her in the dim light of the car.
"I don't know your name," she whispered. Startled by her sudden question, I said, staring out at the gray sea, "I am Lucas Elliott." Before turning to the road. The rest of the journey was silent.