Chapter 48 Is it a coincidence?
Morning arrived with a strange stillness.
Elena sat at the long dining table downstairs, sunlight pouring in through the wide glass windows and spilling across the polished marble floor. The breakfast spread before her was untouched except for the small portion she had forced herself to eat. A cup of coffee rested near her hand, now lukewarm.
She had woken earlier than usual.
Sleep had come in fragments the night before — shallow, interrupted by thoughts she could neither organize nor silence. Today was the day. The DNA test. The uncertainty that had hovered like a shadow for weeks would finally be confronted.
Footsteps descended the staircase.
Jaxon appeared moments later, dressed in a casual outfit — dark jeans and a fitted navy shirt, sleeves rolled slightly above his wrists. It was rare to see him this relaxed in appearance; he was usually in tailored suits, commanding and precise. Today, however, he had cleared his schedule entirely. Damon had been instructed to cancel every meeting.
Business could wait.
This could not.
Elena did not look up immediately. She took another small bite of toast before speaking.
“Did you call her?” she asked, her voice calm but direct, words slipping out even before she fully swallowed.
Jaxon pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down. “Yes, of course. She said she went out of town, so we’ll have to pick her up at St. Bussing Railway.”
Elena finally looked at him. There was no visible emotion on her face, but her fingers tightened slightly around her coffee cup.
“That’s fine,” she replied. “It’s closer to the testing center. We’ll pick her up and head there immediately.”
A brief silence followed.
The quiet between them felt different this morning — heavier, deliberate. Even the faint clinking of cutlery seemed amplified.
Jaxon studied her.
She looked composed, elegant as always, dressed in a simple cream blouse tucked into high-waisted trousers. Her hair was neatly tied back. To anyone else, she would appear perfectly in control.
But he had begun to notice the details others missed.
The slight tension in her jaw. The way her shoulders remained stiff. The way she avoided holding his gaze for too long.
“Are you alright?” he asked, and this time there was no authority in his tone. Only sincerity.
Elena paused for half a second — just enough to betray that the question had landed somewhere deeper than she wanted it to.
“Yes, of course,” she replied quickly. Then, more firmly, “Look, let’s just get this whole thing settled.”
She stood up abruptly, pushing her chair back with quiet determination.
“I’ll be in my car,” she added as she picked up her bag.
Jaxon’s expression shifted.
“We shouldn’t be riding in separate cars,” he said evenly. “You’ll ride with me.”
Elena turned slightly toward him, clearly prepared to argue. For a brief moment, defiance flickered in her eyes.
Then it faded.
“Fine,” she said simply.
She walked toward the entrance without another word.
Outside, the morning air was cool, carrying the faint scent of rain from the previous night. The driver had already prepared Jaxon’s car — sleek, black, polished to perfection.
Elena stopped near her own vehicle for a moment, staring at it as though considering changing her mind. Independence had always been instinctive to her. She preferred her own space, her own control.
But today was not about preference.
She turned and walked toward Jaxon’s car instead.
Jaxon followed a few steps behind, watching her quietly. There was something about her restraint that unsettled him. She was not angry. She was not emotional. She was… bracing herself.
He opened the passenger door for her.
She hesitated only briefly before stepping inside.
As he walked around to the driver’s side, the weight of the day pressed subtly against his chest. He told himself he was calm. That whatever the result was, he would handle it.
But calm and certainty were not the same thing.
The engine started smoothly.
For a while, neither of them spoke. The city moved around them — traffic lights changing, pedestrians crossing, the ordinary rhythm of a morning that felt anything but ordinary.
Elena stared out of the window, watching buildings pass in blurred succession.
“What happens after today?” she asked suddenly, her voice quieter than before.
Jaxon glanced at her briefly before returning his eyes to the road. “We deal with whatever comes.”
“That’s not specific.”
“It doesn’t need to be,” he replied.
She turned her head slightly toward him. “It does to me.”
He understood what she meant.
If the child was his, everything would shift. Not just legally, but emotionally. Publicly. Privately.
If the child was not his, then another kind of storm would begin — questions about Maya’s intentions, about manipulation, about trust.
“We’ll know soon,” he said at last. “Speculation won’t change the result.”
Elena nodded faintly, though she did not look convinced.
As they approached St. Bussing Railway, the station came into view — crowded, alive with movement, announcements echoing faintly through loudspeakers.
The curtains in Caleb’s living room were drawn halfway, allowing narrow streaks of morning light to slip in. The house itself was quiet.
Maya sat stiffly on the edge of the cream leather sofa, her fingers nervously twisting the strap of her handbag.
“They can’t find out that you’re not out of town,” Caleb said firmly. His tone carried none of the softness Jaxon used when speaking to her. It was controlled, strategic.
He walked toward her and took her phone from her hand without asking. Maya blinked, startled, but did not protest.
Caleb handed the phone to Marissa, his assistant, who had been standing silently near the hallway.
“You know what to do,” he told her.
Marissa nodded once. She understood perfectly. The phone would be switched off, dismantled, and discarded in a way that made it appear lost or damaged during travel. The signal would disappear somewhere along a highway miles away from the city.
An illusion.
“Especially since I’m not carrying his child,” Maya added in a lower voice once Marissa left the room. “If they find that out now, it’ll ruin everything.”
Her voice trembled slightly, though she tried to mask it with composure.
Caleb leaned back against the console table, folding his arms.
“It won’t ruin everything,” he corrected calmly. “It will ruin you. And we cannot afford that.”
Maya swallowed.
The lie had started small — a desperate attempt to secure Jaxon’s attention after he began pulling away. But now it had grown into something dangerous. Lawyers had been consulted. Private clinics had been discussed. The situation had escalated beyond her control.
And Caleb had stepped in.
Not out of kindness.
Out of opportunity.
Just then, the sound of heels clicking against marble echoed from the hallway.
Donna entered the living room with effortless authority. She was dressed in an elegant silk robe, her posture impeccable, her presence commanding without effort.
“Hi, Mom,” Caleb greeted casually.
Maya stood up immediately.
“Hello, ma’am,” she said politely, stretching out her hand for a handshake.
Donna’s eyes traveled slowly from Maya’s face down to her extended hand. Her expression did not soften.
She ignored it completely.
“Is this the girl?” Donna asked, her voice cool.
“Yes,” Caleb replied smoothly. “She will help us get exactly what we want.”
Donna studied Maya again, this time with faint disdain.
There was no warmth in her gaze — only calculation.
“Alright,” Donna said at last. “I’ll be by the pool.”
She turned and walked out without another word, leaving behind a faint scent of expensive perfume.
Maya slowly lowered her hand, embarrassment flushing her cheeks.
“So that’s your mother,” she muttered, forcing a small smile. “She’s beautiful.”
Caleb gave her a look that suggested she had completely missed the point.
“That’s not what you should be worrying about,” he said evenly. “Let’s hope the plan works.”
He pushed himself away from the table and walked out, leaving Maya alone in the large, silent room.
The house felt colder once he was gone.
Maya sat back down slowly.
Her reflection stared back at her from the glass surface of the coffee table — a woman tangled in a lie too complex to untangle.
She placed a hand over her flat stomach.
There was no child.
No heartbeat. No proof.
Only deception.
The original plan had been simple: delay the test, create excuses, buy time. Caleb had promised to “handle” the rest.
But now the day had arrived.
Jaxon and Elena would be on their way to St. Bussing Railway, expecting to pick her up.
They would wait.
And she would not be there.
Maya’s breathing grew shallow.
“What if he finds out?” she whispered to herself.
Caleb had assured her that by the time suspicion arose, things would already be in motion — contracts manipulated, leverage secured, narratives spun in the press.
But she knew Jaxon.
He was not a man who reacted quietly to betrayal.
And Elena…
Maya clenched her jaw.
Elena was more observant than she appeared.
By the pool outside, Donna sat elegantly beneath a wide umbrella, sunglasses shielding her eyes as she sipped from a crystal glass. From a distance, she looked relaxed.
She was not.
“Do you trust the girl?” she asked calmly as Caleb joined her moments later.
“I trust her desperation,” Caleb replied.
Donna tilted her head slightly. “Desperate people make mistakes.”
“Not if they’re guided properly,” Caleb said.
Donna removed her sunglasses slowly, fixing her son with a meaningful look.
“This is not just about embarrassing Jaxon,” she reminded him. “This is about weakening him.”
Caleb’s jaw tightened faintly.
Jaxon had always been the golden figure in their extended business circle — disciplined, strategic, untouchable.
Caleb intended to change that.
“If the test doesn’t happen today,” Caleb said quietly, “doubt will grow. And doubt is more powerful than proof.”
Donna leaned back in her chair, satisfied for now.
Inside the house, Maya’s phone lay dismantled in Marissa’s hands.
And the carefully constructed lie was seconds away from colliding with reality.
Four hours.
Four long, exhausting hours.
The station had slowly transformed around them. What had begun as a bustling terminal filled with travelers, vendors, and the echo of rolling suitcases had gradually thinned into something quieter, almost hollow.
Announcements over the loudspeaker now sounded distant and tired, as though even the building itself had grown impatient.
Elena had spent most of the time inside the car.
At first, she had stood outside beside Jaxon, scanning every arriving train with rigid anticipation. But after the second hour, her knees began to ache from standing in heels, and frustration settled into her bones. Now she sat in the passenger seat, arms folded tightly across her chest, staring through the windshield as if Maya might magically materialize from thin air.
A few feet away, Jaxon stood with his phone pressed to his ear, jaw tense. He had dialed Maya’s number more times than he could count.
No connection.
No ringing.
Nothing.
The sun had shifted noticeably in the sky, sliding toward evening. The station would close within a couple of hours.
Still no sign of her.
Elena finally pushed the door open and stepped out again. The breeze was cooler now, brushing against her hair as she walked toward Jaxon.
“Have you reached her?” she asked, though she already knew the answer.
He lowered the phone slowly. “No. It’s not connecting.”
Elena let out a sharp breath of disbelief.
“I knew it,” she muttered. “That lady can never be trusted.”
Her patience had dissolved entirely.
“What do we do now?” she continued, her voice edged with irritation. “I don’t think she will show up.”
Jaxon glanced toward the station entrance, his expression unreadable. “Let’s just wait a bit more. Maybe an hour. If she doesn’t show up, then we leave.”
“Fine,” Elena said tightly. “She had better prepare herself for when I see her. I’ll pull all her hair out from her head.”
She turned and walked back toward the car, sliding into the seat with visible frustration.
Jaxon remained outside for a moment longer, dialing Maya’s number again.
Still nothing.
Inside the car, Elena’s phone rang.
She glanced at the screen.
Brielle.
“Hey,” she answered.
“El, how did it go?” Brielle’s voice carried curiosity — and concern.
Elena scoffed lightly. “This woman kept us here waiting all day and still no sign of her.”
“Have you tried calling her?”
“Jaxon’s been calling her nonstop. She isn’t picking up.”
There was a pause on the other end.
“Well, we expected nothing more,” Brielle said. “This tells us she’s hiding something.”
“Obviously,” Elena replied. “He suggested we wait another hour. If she still doesn’t show up, we head back.”
“Okay. Call me later, alright?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
Elena ended the call and leaned back against the seat.
The hour passed.
Then fifteen minutes more.
The sky had begun to dim, the golden light fading into muted blue. The station’s activity had nearly ceased.
Finally, Jaxon opened the driver’s door and slid into the seat.
Elena turned to him immediately. “What now?”
“Still nothing,” he said calmly. “Let’s just go.”
She nodded once and reached for her seatbelt.
Jaxon inserted the key and started the engine.
It roared to life briefly.
Then died.
He frowned slightly and tried again.
This time, it didn’t respond.
“What’s wrong?” Elena asked, her irritation shifting into concern.
Jaxon glanced down at the dashboard indicator.
“Oh, hell,” he muttered. “We’re out of gas.”
Elena blinked. “What?”
He rubbed his forehead briefly, clearly annoyed with himself. “I didn’t notice the indicator earlier.”
“What do we do?” she asked.
“Hang on. I’ll ask someone where I can buy gas.”
He grabbed his phone and stepped out of the car. “Don’t go anywhere.”
Elena watched him disappear toward the edge of the station grounds. The area was growing noticeably emptier now, and the thought of being stranded unsettled her.
After several minutes, Jaxon returned.
“Well?” she asked.
“I asked a woman by the roadside,” he explained. “She said there’s no gas station open at this hour around here. The nearest one is the station we passed earlier.”
Elena’s eyes widened. “What? That’s like an hour’s drive.”
“Exactly.”
Silence filled the car for a moment as the reality of their situation settled in.
Jaxon exhaled slowly. “What we’ll do is find a hotel and spend the night. Tomorrow morning, we head back.”
Elena looked around uneasily. The once-busy station now felt isolated.
“I hear this area has gotten dangerous lately,” Jaxon added quietly.
She didn’t argue this time.
“Okay. Fine,” she said. “Where do we find one?”
“I saw a small hotel earlier. About a fifteen-minute walk.”
They both stepped out of the car.
Elena paused, glancing back at the vehicle. “What about the car?”
“It’s not an ordinary car,” Jaxon replied calmly. “It can’t be stolen easily. Don’t worry.”
She narrowed her eyes at him slightly.
“Okay, tech lord,” she said dryly.
A faint smirk tugged at his lips despite the situation.
“Shall we?” he gestured.
They began walking down the dimly lit road.
The air had turned cooler, and the sound of distant traffic hummed faintly. Streetlights flickered on one by one, casting long shadows along the pavement.
For a while, neither spoke.
The quiet between them felt different now — less tense, more aware.
Stranded. Together. Unexpectedly alone.
After a few minutes, Elena broke the silence.
“This is ridiculous.”
“Which part?” Jaxon asked mildly.
“All of it,” she said. “Maya disappearing. The car running out of gas. Being stuck here.”
He glanced at her briefly. “You think it’s a coincidence?”
She met his gaze.
“No,” she said honestly.
He didn’t respond, but the thought clearly registered.
If Maya had lied about being out of town…
If her phone was suddenly unreachable…
If today had been intentionally sabotaged…
Then this was bigger than simple avoidance.
Ahead, the faint glow of a modest hotel sign came into view.
Not luxurious.
Not impressive.
But available.
Elena looked at it, then at Jaxon.
“Well,” she sighed. “I hope they have two rooms.”
Jaxon didn’t answer immediately.
He simply walked toward the entrance.
And for the first time that day, uncertainty shifted into something far more complicated than frustration.