Chapter 20 Chapter 20
Cynthia’s POV
For a long moment, I couldn’t move from my place.
It felt like my worst nightmare playing right in front of my eyes.
“Mumma,” Aurora’s call snapped me out of my thoughts.
I immediately rushed to her and dropped to my knees.
“Meet my new friend. He is—”
“How many times have I told you not to talk to strangers!” My voice came out firmer than I intended.
But at that moment, I wasn’t in control of myself.
Lucien is dangerous.
Anything could have happened to her.
I could feel his gaze on us.
“Mommy, but he is a good man,” she said with a sad little face. “He helped—”
Before she could finish, I lifted her into my arms and started walking out of the café without looking back.
“Mumma… my shake, your cap…”
“Forget about it!” I said as I almost ran toward my car, one hand resting on her head to shield her face. Yet she kept looking at me with those puppy eyes.
“Mumma, I want it, pweaase.”
My steps faltered for a second. My chest tightened when I noticed the small tears gathering in her eyes.
Just when I was about to say something, someone walked past and stopped in front of us.
Lucien.
The anger that had melted for a brief moment flared up again at the sight of him.
I clenched my jaw and tried to walk past, but he spoke.
“Why are you running like a thief?”
My head snapped toward him.
“Have you stolen something from me?”
I didn’t find it necessary to answer.
He doesn’t exist for me anymore.
But then his attention shifted to Aurora.
I tried to hide her face, but she didn’t let me. Instead, she looked at Lucien with those innocent eyes that scared me to the core.
“Your shake,” Lucien said, handing it to her with a smile that could melt a mountain, let alone a small child.
Aurora’s face instantly lit up. She was about to take it.
“Aurora, don’t!” I warned.
I knew she was craving it, but I couldn’t let her take anything from him. I could buy her two shakes later.
“Mumma, please. He is not a boogeyman,” she pouted.
I snatched the shake from Lucien’s hand and tossed it into the nearby dustbin.
“Mummmaaaa…”
Aurora burst into tears, but I didn’t give in.
Changing my direction, I opened the car door and placed her inside before fastening her seat belt.
She started kicking and flailing her arms. I offered her chocolates, but she threw them away.
“Fine!” I shouted. “Cry all you want!”
And she cried even louder.
I shut the door.
I know I was being a bad mother at that moment, but she had to learn that not every wish could be fulfilled.
I was about to walk around to the driver’s seat when Lucien stepped in front of me again.
I tried to move past him, but he caught my wrist.
My burning glare dropped to his grip, and he immediately loosened it.
He knows my anger too well.
“This is not the right way to treat a child.”
“She is my daughter,” I snapped. “I’ll do whatever the hell I want. You are no one to tell me otherwise!”
My entire body burned with rage as I pointed a finger at him.
He clenched his jaw and glanced at sobbing Aurora once before looking back at me.
“Why didn’t you tell me about her?” he asked softly.
“Who are you?” I snapped, folding my arms across my chest.
He parted his lips, then licked them as if trying to form an answer but no words came out.
“For me, you are just my past that has already ended,” I spat. “And I have no interest in looking back at it.”
His gaze slowly shifted to Aurora.
“It doesn’t look like the past has ended yet.”
I turned toward Aurora.
She was staring at Lucien with wide, tear-filled eyes, pouty lips, and a red little nose.
The moment she noticed my gaze, she looked down and began sobbing quietly, rubbing her eyes with her fists.
My heart clenched, but I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat.
“Her eyes…” he murmured under his breath.
“She got them from her father,” I cut him off before he could think any further.
“Adrian.”
His eyes narrowed as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
“Unlike you, he loves kids,” I continued coldly. “And we had her in the first year of our marriage.”
His jaw tightened. I could almost hear his restraint cracking.
His gaze drifted to her again.
I shifted slightly, shielding her from him.
“Don’t you dare look at her again,” I warned. “She is mine.”
His eyes snapped to me. They have now turned dark and burning red.
There was a storm raging inside him, yet he stood unnervingly calm.
“Stay away from my family, Lucien,” I said firmly. “We have nothing to do with you anymore.”
Turning on my heels, I walked around the car while he remained frozen in his place.
I opened the door and was about to get in when his voice stopped me.
“I hope this time you’re telling the truth,” he said quietly, dangerously. “Because if you’ve robbed me of something this precious…”
He lifted his gaze to mine to look straight into my soul.
“God save you, Cynthia, as this time, I will not have mercy.”