Chapter 250
Chapter 250
Kian's words were blunt, final. His tone left no room for negotiation.
Chloe froze on the spot, her face cycling between red and white. Humiliation burned through her.
Behind her, the Lancaster Group staff kept their heads down, not daring to make a sound. The awkward silence was like an invisible whip, shredding her dignity and grinding it into the floor.
Her fingers tightened around the handle of her suitcase, nails digging into her palm until they nearly broke skin.
Yet she forced a smile that looked worse than tears.
"Fine. I understand."
"I'll handle the meeting situation."
Kian said nothing more.
Chloe watched helplessly as Kian and Elena walked toward the airport VIP lounge together. They kept half a step between them, didn't exchange a single word, yet somehow projected an aura that shut everyone else out.
She stood there until they disappeared from view. Her chest heaved violently. The hatred in her eyes was impossible to hide.
She refused to accept this.
She'd spent five years by Kian's side. Five years of careful planning, meticulous scheming. Everyone assumed she'd eventually marry into the Lancaster family.
Then Elena appeared and effortlessly shattered all her calculations.
"Elena..."
She bit out the name through clenched teeth, her eyes dark with malice.
She'd remember this.
If Elena thought she could waltz back and steal what was rightfully hers, she had another thing coming.
---
After leaving the airport, Elena didn't let Kian make arrangements. She quickly searched for a restaurant near downtown with good privacy—somewhere they could talk quietly and get this over with.
When the car stopped and she looked up at the sign, her heart dropped.
Of all places...
Five years ago, she and Kian had slept together for the first time in the hotel suite above this very restaurant.
Changing locations now would look too deliberate, like she still cared about what happened.
Elena swallowed her discomfort, pushed open the car door, and forced herself to walk inside.
Kian followed behind her. When he entered, he also froze for a moment, something complicated flickering in his eyes. But he said nothing and silently followed her into the private dining room.
He'd already investigated what happened five years ago.
The woman he'd slept with that night wasn't Chloe. It was Elena.
The server quickly brought out the dishes. The plating was exquisite, the aroma enticing. Neither of them picked up their silverware.
Kian's gaze stayed fixed on her face. He didn't look away.
Five years.
He'd only seen her in occasional work photos she uploaded to Design Haven. He'd pieced together fragments of her life from others' passing comments.
Now that she stood before him in person, he realized she'd lost weight. Her features had shed their former softness, replaced by a distant sharpness.
But those eyes—they were still the ones he remembered.
From the moment they met until now, they hadn't changed at all.
Elena felt uncomfortable under his stare. Her fingertips unconsciously traced the rim of her water glass. She kept her eyes down and said nothing.
The private room was so quiet that only the soft clink of tableware could be heard. The awkwardness was suffocating.
"When did you decide to come back?"
Kian broke the silence first, his voice deeper than it had been at the airport.
"Spur of the moment." Elena's reply was flat.
"What about your studio? Are you planning to move your operations back here?"
He pressed on, his tone softening slightly.
"If you need help with resources or licensing, I can—"
"No need." Elena cut him off. She didn't want to owe him any favors. "Olivia's already handled everything."
The conversation died again.
This was the only topic Kian could think of that gave him a legitimate excuse to talk to Elena.
Kian didn't get annoyed. His gaze remained glued to her face.
He had so many things he wanted to ask. How had these five years treated her? Had she adapted to life abroad?
Had she ever—even for a moment—thought about him?
But when the words reached his lips, they took a detour and landed on the thing that had been eating at him most.
"The child... how old is she?"
His question came out soft, cautiously probing.
Earlier at the airport, he'd caught a glimpse from a distance. The child's features reminded him so much of Elena.
After learning that it was Elena he'd slept with that night, he'd wondered if the child Elena was carrying might be his.
Elena's hand clenched tight. Her nails dug hard into her palm.
What had to come would come.
She needed Kian to save her daughter anyway. Being direct about it—treating it like a business transaction—might actually be better.
She took a deep breath, lifted her eyes to meet Kian's without flinching, and spoke each word clearly:
"Nora is five years old. Kian, she's your daughter."
The moment the words left her mouth, the room fell completely silent.
Kian went rigid in his chair. His pupils contracted sharply. The water glass in his hand tilted, hot water splashing onto the back of his hand. He didn't even notice.
He had a daughter.
His and Elena's daughter.
A wave of wild joy surged through him, then quickly receded.
Kian stared at Elena across the table, his brow furrowing slowly.
Something wasn't right.
This was all wrong.
What kind of person was Elena? To avoid him, she'd even faked her own death.
She'd fought desperately to hide from him, precisely because she didn't want him involved in her life.
If she'd simply wanted him to acknowledge their daughter, she never would have come to him voluntarily. And she certainly wouldn't be sitting across from him this calmly.
The way she looked right now—this wasn't someone here to reconnect.
This was someone backed into a corner, forced to play her last card.
The weight in her eyes was too heavy.
Kian had sensed something was wrong back at the airport.
Elena's complexion had been terrible, the red veins in her eyes impossible to hide. Her entire body was wound tight like a bowstring pulled taut—one more ounce of pressure and it would snap.
The realization hit him like a stone dropping into his chest. His earlier joy was instantly buried under worry.
He leaned forward, lowering his voice with careful concern:
"Elena, did something happen?"
Elena kept her eyes down. Her long lashes trembled faintly. She said nothing.
The more she stayed silent, the more certain Kian became that he'd guessed right.
Something catastrophic must have happened. Otherwise, she would never have appeared before him voluntarily, let alone revealed the child's parentage so easily.
"Is it about Nora?" he asked.
Other than Nora, he couldn't think of any other possibility.
At the mention of Nora, Elena's shoulders gave an almost imperceptible tremor.
Elena sniffed, and when she raised her head again, all emotion had drained from her eyes. Only a calm, desperate resolve remained.
She knew she couldn't hide it. She hadn't planned to.
Since she was here to negotiate a deal, she might as well be straightforward. Lay the terms clearly on the table.
"Nora has severe aplastic anemia."
Elena's voice was soft, but it hit Kian like a sledgehammer to the chest.
"The doctor said medication has too low a success rate. The most reliable option is a stem cell transplant from cord blood of a full sibling."
She continued, her tone so calm it was almost cruel. "I tried the bone marrow registry. The odds of finding a match are too low. We can't afford to wait."
Kian stared at her, his heart constricting painfully.
Before he could recover, Elena spoke again, her gaze locked directly on his face:
"Chloe's been with you for five years. Everyone assumes she'll be the future Mrs. Lancaster. But you still haven't married her. My guess? She has fertility issues. That's where you're stuck, isn't it?"