Chapter 4 - The Revelation
The tension in the executive office was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Luca slowly stepped fully into the room, closing the heavy glass door behind him with a terrifyingly quiet click.
Evelyn scrambled backward, completely dropping the arrogant posture she had held just moments before.
"Luca, darling, I was just making a terrible joke," Evelyn stammered, her voice pitching incredibly high with panic.
He completely ignored her pathetic excuses and walked directly toward me, his dark eyes swirling with a violent storm of emotions.
"Did her father truly pay Doctor Aris to forge your infertility records five years ago?" Luca demanded, his voice dangerously low.
"I did not know anything about it until she just confessed it right now," I answered honestly, still reeling from the shocking revelation.
Luca turned his furious gaze slowly toward his trembling wife.
"Your family orchestrated the destruction of my marriage just to force a corporate merger," he realized aloud, the absolute betrayal burning in his eyes.
Evelyn burst into fake, dramatic tears, falling to her knees on the expensive imported rug.
"My father forced me to do it, Luca, he said our family company would go bankrupt if I didn't marry you," she sobbed hysterically.
Luca stared down at her with an expression of pure, unadulterated disgust.
"Get out of my building right now, Evelyn, and expect my divorce lawyers to contact you within the hour," he commanded ruthlessly.
She tried to argue, but he hit a button on his desk, instantly summoning his massive security guards to physically remove her from the room.
Once we were finally alone, Luca sank heavily into his leather chair, burying his face deep in his hands.
"Nia, I am so incredibly sorry," he whispered, his voice cracking with genuine, agonizing remorse.
He had thrown away the love of his life and missed five years of his children's lives over a completely fabricated lie.
I wanted to comfort him, but the deep scars of his past abandonment were still incredibly fresh in my mind.
"An apology does not magically erase the hell you put me through, Luca," I said quietly, gathering my purse to leave.
I walked out of his corporate headquarters feeling completely numb, desperate to get back to the safety of my small apartment.
That night, after I tucked Leo and Mia into their beds, a frantic, aggressive knocking echoed from my front door.
I peered cautiously through the small peephole and gasped in absolute shock.
Doctor Aris, the fertility specialist who had ruined my life five years ago, was standing in my hallway looking absolutely terrified.
I opened the door slightly, keeping the heavy metal security chain firmly attached.
"You need to let me in right now, Nia, because Marcus Shaw's men are actively trying to kill me," the doctor pleaded desperately.
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Before I could even unlatch the chain, a loud, suppressed gunshot echoed through the quiet hallway.
The doctor's eyes rolled backward, and he collapsed heavily against my front door, leaving a horrific smear of bright red blood on the wood.
