Lucien looked at her for a moment that felt older than the situation itself, then replied, “Because your mother asked me to protect you before she died.”
Before she could respond, her phone vibrated violently with a message that made her entire body freeze in terror.
A photo showed Nick standing at a hospital reception desk with lawyers behind him, while the message beneath it read, “I know you are carrying triplets, and you will not leave that hospital with my heirs.”
Adeline whispered in disbelief while pain and fear collided inside her chest, because the knowledge that her condition had been exposed felt like betrayal from every direction.
Lucien took the phone, read the message without changing expression, and then returned it while his eyes hardened into something colder than anger.
He said, “If he thinks influence protects him, then he has never faced consequences at my level of power.”
The vehicle accelerated toward Aster Ridge Private Hospital, where staff were already waiting as if alerted in advance by forces she did not understand.
Adeline screamed as another contraction tore through her body while Lucien ordered preparations through a direct communication line, his voice calm but absolute.
He said, “Secure the delivery suite and restrict all unauthorized access immediately,” while the city blurred past outside the armored windows.
