Chapter 49
Juliana slammed the guest room door shut and locked it. Her back against the door, her body slid down uncontrollably until she was on the floor, every ounce of strength drained from her.
Lucas was terrifying. He was a monster.
She covered her face as tears finally broke through. She had to leave. Now. With Damian and Matty—both of them.
Juliana scrambled up from the floor, stumbled to the bed, grabbed her phone, and with trembling fingers dialed a number.
The call connected quickly.
"Hello? Julie, what's wrong?" Joshua's warm, concerned voice came through.
"Josh..." Juliana's voice broke the moment she spoke. "Help me... please come help me..."
"What happened? Take your time, don't panic."
"Lucas, he's... he's insane! He's trying to take my child!" Juliana was incoherent. "I need to leave—I need to move out right now! Come get me, and Dami! No, wait—I need to get Matty from school first! We have to leave immediately!"
Joshua immediately grasped the severity of the situation.
"Julie, calm down! Where are you? At the Sharp estate?"
"Yes! I'm here—please come!"
"Okay, listen to me. Don't do anything right now. Stay in your room, lock the door, don't go anywhere. I'll get people together and come for you as fast as I can. As for Matty, don't worry—I'll handle it!" Joshua's voice was steady and firm.
After hanging up, Juliana immediately started packing, then slipped out through a side door.
Lucas had been drinking heavily and had to be helped inside. He waved off the butler trying to support him and staggered up the stairs alone.
His steps paused at Juliana's door. He seemed about to knock but ultimately let his hand drop. Instead, he pushed open Damian's door.
The thick scent of alcohol filled the air. Matthew looked toward Juliana's room as Lucas spoke, word by word. "...All the same."
"For money. For the Mrs. Sharp position. They'll do anything."
"Juliana... what makes you any different from them..."
He was badmouthing his mother.
A nameless fury ignited in Matthew's chest. No wonder he hadn't seen Mommy when he got home—she must have had a fight with this jerk and left!
He turned on the hallway light.
"She's not like that."
A cool, childish voice rang out in the room. Lucas's foggy mind cleared for just an instant. He slowly turned his head toward the small figure beside him.
In the light, half the child's face was illuminated, half in shadow. Those dark eyes stared at him unblinking, holding no sympathy, no fear—only a kind of cold judgment.
That look... wasn't Damian's. When Damian looked at him, there was evasion, a mix of fear and defiance. But this child was too cold. Cold as ice.
"My mother has zero interest in being your wife. You're the one who can't read people. Don't take it out on her."
Lucas narrowed his eyes, the alcohol's effects mostly dissipated now.
"You're not Dami."
"Only just figured that out? Pretty slow on the uptake."
Lucas stared at this face that was identical to Damian's yet different in every way. Matthew.
"So you're Juliana's son?"
"So what if I am?" Despite his small stature, Matthew's presence was formidable. "A man who just drinks himself stupid and talks trash about women behind their backs doesn't deserve to be my father."
"Doesn't deserve?" Lucas laughed in disbelief. He reached out to pinch that little face trying so hard to look mature, but Matthew dodged nimbly.
"Don't touch me. You reek of alcohol. It's disgusting."
Lucas's hand froze in midair. In thirty years of life, this was the first time a seven-year-old had rejected him so bluntly.
"Want to know about my mother?" Matthew crossed his arms, tilting his head back to look at him, a challenging gleam in his eyes. "Fine."
He pointed toward the study.
"If you're a real man, compete with me. You win, I'll tell you whatever you want to know."
Lucas looked at him, suddenly finding this absurd day rather interesting.
"Compete at what?"
"Hacking." Matthew's voice rang with certainty.
Fifteen minutes later in the study, Lucas had washed his face and changed into loungewear. Though his eyes were still bloodshot, his gaze had regained its clarity.
He watched the little guy sitting ramrod straight across from him, face serious, fingers flying across the keyboard. His feelings were complicated.
He'd originally thought this was just a child's tantrum. But when Matthew expertly pulled up backend code and started constructing firewalls, Lucas knew he'd been wrong.
This kid was a genius.
Lucas abandoned any condescension, his expression turning focused. Attack, defense, intrusion, counter-intrusion... Time ticked by.
Matthew's attacks grew fiercer with each round, yet were consistently deflected by more seasoned, more cunning methods. This man... was far stronger than he'd anticipated.
On Lucas's end, he seemed completely at ease. Watching the nearly flawless attack patterns on screen, approval flickered in his eyes. This child's talent might even surpass his own. Unfortunately, he was still too green.
Lucas's fingers typed out the final line of code and hit enter. Matthew's computer screen went black instantly. In the center, only a single line of white text remained.
[You lose.]
Matthew stared at those words, his small shoulders sagging. He'd lost.
He looked up at the man across from him. His eyes held frustration and defeat, but no attempt to back out.
"A bet's a bet. Ask whatever you want."
Lucas leaned back into the wide leather chair. He could ask so many things. Like, how are you here? Like, are you and Damian actually twins? Like, who is your biological father?
But when the words reached his lips, he asked something else entirely. Looking at this stubborn little wolf cub of a child, his throat worked. "Tell me—what kind of person is your mother, really?"