The Day I Walked Away My Empire Began novel Chapter 97

“I just want the truth. Please, just tell me…” Her voice was barely more than a whisper, all the fight drained from her. Tears rolled down her cheeks and splattered onto his arm, one after another.

Steven’s heart clenched. He hated seeing her like this. “The truth is… you’re overthinking it. Cody is our son. You’re his mother. Please, Lucie, don’t do this to yourself.”

That only made the ache in her chest worse. “You’re still lying to me? Even now? Shannon’s Cody’s real mother, isn’t she?”

Steven’s eyebrows drew together in frustration. “No. I’ve told you a thousand times, I see Shannon as a sister. There’s no way I would ever have a child with her.”

“Then it must be someone else, right?” Lucie’s eyes were red and wild as she stared him down, her whole body shaking with anger. She’d heard all the stories. Men with money always had secrets. Even broke guys couldn’t resist fooling around if the chance came up, so with Steven’s wealth, what was stopping him from having girls everywhere?

“Is that it? Is there someone else?”

Steven went silent, his jaw tight. His gaze darted away, and she could practically see him scrambling for another excuse.

That look said everything. Something inside Lucie froze. Her voice cracked as she choked out, “Steven, if you didn’t want a child, I never would’ve forced you. If you hated me, I wouldn’t have begged you to let me have your baby. But I can’t accept this. I can’t stand the thought that you used my body to give birth to your child with another woman. Why would you do that to me? Why?”

She cried out, dizzy and dazed, unable to move.

Steven dropped to his knees, panic all over his face as he lifted her up. “Lucie, please, don’t do this to yourself. Cody is our son. No one would ever dare question that.”

He laid her back on the bed, not sure how to comfort her, his mind racing for anything to say. He’d already come up with a handful of lies—if she ever found out, he’d tell her his sperm wasn’t viable, or that her eggs had problems, and they’d had no choice but to use a donor.