Chapter 39 Chapter 39
Cynthia's POV
“Where is Aurora?” I demanded.
He was standing in front of me with his palms shoved in his pants' pocket. He looked amused as he tilted his head.
“Your Aurora?” he repeated slowly, tasting the words. “You mean my daughter, Cynthia. The one you’ve been hiding in the shadows like a stolen jewel.”
My nails dug into my palms. I wasn't here to argue with him. I don't care what he thinks, says, or does. I am here for my daughter and I am not going back without her.
I was looking like a mess but he was staring at me as if I were a doll.
A doll for him to play and break.
Inhaling a deep breath, I stepped ahead to find her. The mansion may be enormous but it can never be big enough to hide a child from her mother.
I ran forward in search of my daughter but before I could take more than two steps, a strong hand wrapped around my waist and yanked me back.
A gasp escaped my throat when my back collided with his chest. I could already feel his warm breath fanning my shoulder.
“Leave me!” I struggled against his grip. “I want to meet my daughter!”
His arm tightened around me like iron. I knew I could never win him like this but right now I was too desperate to see my daughter.
I want to see her, to make sure she is fine.
“Your daughter?” he held me tightly, seizing my movements, and said near my ear in a dangerously calm voice “She has been handed over to me legally because you are not capable enough of raising her.”
The audacity.
The rage that exploded inside me was so sharp it almost blinded me. I twisted in his hold and forced myself to face him.
He wrapped his arm around my waist and pushed me against his chest as if he still owned me.
“You also know, Lucien, who is more capable of raising her."
My eyes turned dark as I looked straight into his eyes.
For a moment, the intensity of his gaze vanished the smirk from his lips but he was quick in composing himself back.
“Lying in court doesn’t change reality,” I continued. “You know exactly what I did to save her. I didn’t ask for your help. You didn’t pay for her surgery directly.”
He froze for a second as the reality hit him. His jaw clenched before he withdrew a deep breath.
"You deserved it for hiding the fact that I have a daughter and she was fighting for her life. I would have given my entire empire just to save her"
I let out a hollow chuckle.
“Money has rotted your brain, Lucien,” I sneered. “You think throwing power at everything makes you God.”
His chest rose sharply.
"But no matter how rich you are, for Aurora your money is nothing in front of me. You can provide her with all the luxuries yet she will call for me"
The confidence in my voice shook him slightly but he didn't let it show on his face.
He knew even after getting Aurora, he hadn't won her completely.
He could never!
“She is very happy here.” he mumbled "without you"
“Yeah. Right.” I nodded sarcastically, my eyes dropping to the car keys still clenched in his hand. “That’s why you were going to pick me up, weren’t you?”
His fingers tightened around the keys for a fraction of a second.
I looked back into his eyes.
“You are forgetting something, Lucien. Not only you, but I can also read you like an open book. You may lie to the world, but not me.”
For a brief moment, something dark flickered in his gaze.
The next second his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. He twisted it behind my back and pulled me flush against him. I winced as pain shot up my arm.
My soaked clothes pressed against his dry ones, drenching him as well. Rainwater dripped from my hair onto his collar. Our bodies were practically squeezed together.
Mine cold.
He's warm.
Opposite to our personalities.
“Aurora is mine now,” he spat coldly. “And I am not allowing you to see her.”
"You are no one to stop me" I spat
"I am her guardian" his hold tightened around me as he leaned his face down and stopped just an inch away.
"I don't care" I raved.
"You know who you are messing with?" He asked.
"I know more than you, Lucien!"
We stared into each other's eyes, waiting for the other person to take a step back but none of us moved from our places.
"Mumma"
Suddenly, the soft, chirping, and excited voice of Aurora filled the air.