Before the doctor could finish, Lucia grabbed the test tubes and hurled them to the floor.
“I said I don’t want to have his child.”
Her face was pale, but her eyes were stone cold.
“No matter what Jared paid you, I’ll pay ten times more. Just don’t tell him.”
The doctor freaked. “But… if Mr. Dawson asks—”
“Then wait till he does.”
She was done. If she was walking away, she’d burn every bridge on her way out.
Lucia stared at the broken glass on the floor, a dull ache tightening in her chest.
Once, she’d dreamed of having Jared’s baby.
Now?
Her lips twisted into a bitter smile. She turned and walked out—never looking back.
***
Lucia checked herself out of the hospital on her own.
Back home, the scent of Jared still clung to every room. It was suffocating.
She needed air—needed space. So she headed to the hunting grounds.
Back in Italvia, riding and hunting had been her escape. Khelmark didn’t have much for that at first, but when Francesca found out, she bought a whole mountain, turned it into a private hunting estate, and handed it over to Lucia.
Whenever things got heavy, this was where Lucia went to breathe.
Now, it was a hotspot for Khelmark’s elite—state-of-the-art, exclusive, and entirely hers.
She pulled up to the gates—and froze.
A familiar black Maybach was already parked outside.
The door opened. Jared stepped out, carrying Alice like some fairytale prince.
“Jared, put me down,” Alice said, all coy and breathy. “I can walk.”
“It just rained. The ground’s wet,” he said.
Alice flushed deeper, pleased—until he set her down and she spotted Lucia.
She stiffened. “Lucia?”
Only then did Jared look up—and see her.
His frown kicked in instantly.
He remembered the call from the doctor—something about Lucia having a stress reaction.
She wasn’t in danger, so he didn’t bother checking in.
Didn’t expect to run into her here.
Noticing how pale she still looked, a strange wave of irritation crept up his spine.
“What are you doing here?”
She blinked, steady and cool.
“I came to ride.”
Alice and Jared hadn’t shown up alone—they brought their usual crew of rich brats.
The second Lucia answered, the jeering started.
“Horseback riding? Lucia, do you even KNOW how to ride?”
“You think hunting on horseback’s like riding a donkey back in the sticks? Don’t snap your neck!”
