Chapter 52
Inside the car, the atmosphere felt charged with something unspoken.
Juliana tried to focus on the scenery outside, but the window only reflected Lucas's image back at her. Morning light streamed through the glass, outlining his sharp profile as he drove. The way he concentrated on the road made her lose focus for a moment.
Her heart gave a heavy, traitorous thump.
She clenched her fists tight. No. She couldn't let herself feel anything. She'd come back for one reason only—the child.
If Lucas discovered her true purpose, if he found out she planned to take Damian away, all of today's "tenderness" would transform into the sharpest blade, cutting her down without mercy.
The car descended into the hospital's underground parking garage. Juliana unbuckled her seatbelt and practically fled from the vehicle.
"Remember what I said. Think about it." Lucas's voice followed her.
Juliana's back stiffened. She hurried toward the elevator.
Only when the elevator doors closed did she finally exhale.
Dowry...
He'd actually said that out loud.
This man was like a net, tightening around her silently and methodically. And she was the fish caught inside.
……
The Sharp Group, top floor. CEO's office.
Lucas finished working through the backlog of documents on his desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out a thin file.
He'd had his assistant investigate her past seven years.
Graduated from a top medical school, then studied abroad. Rising star in the international medical community. Her life trajectory was clean as a blank page—nothing but work and time spent with her son Matthew.
On the last page, there was an inconspicuous note.
[Seven years ago, took a leave of absence due to romantic complications. Subsequently left the country.]
Romantic complications...
Lucas's gaze lingered on those words.
So she'd left because of heartbreak?
Was that also why she'd rather adopt a child than risk her heart again?
He remembered how she'd looked in the car yesterday, backed into a corner—like a hedgehog with all its spines raised, except her eyes had been red as a rabbit's.
A wounded hedgehog, then.
This revelation eased the inexplicable irritation that had been gnawing at him.
He closed the file and tossed it back in the drawer.
Whatever she'd been through, from now on, she could only be his.
Work calls flooded in one after another. Lucas worked nonstop, lunch reduced to a few bites of sandwich. By three in the afternoon, the familiar burning sensation in his stomach began churning violently.
He pressed a hand to his abdomen, leaning back in his chair, face pale.
A knock sounded at the office door.
"Come in."
The door opened. Juliana walked in.
She wore a white coat, medical kit in hand, hair pulled back in a simple twist that exposed the pale line of her neck.
"Your assistant said you haven't left your office all afternoon. Didn't eat lunch properly either." She approached his desk and set down the medical kit, her tone strictly professional. "Give me your arm. Let me examine you."
Lucas looked at her but didn't move.
"Mr. Sharp," Juliana frowned, "I'm your attending physician. Please cooperate."
Only then did he slowly extend his arm, resting it on the desk's edge.
Juliana pulled over a chair and sat. Her fingertips found his pulse.
Her fingers were cool, carrying a faint medicinal scent. When they touched his burning skin, it made him lose focus for a moment.
Lucas's gaze drifted, unbidden, to her lowered lashes.
Just then, his private phone rang—an urgent video conference from the overseas branch.
"Wait here a moment." He said this to Juliana, then stood and moved aside to answer the call.
Juliana withdrew her hand, preparing to make some notes. Her gaze inadvertently swept across his massive desk.
Her name and photo on a cover caught her attention.
—Juliana Personal Background Investigation Report.
Blood rushed to her head in a deafening roar, then drained away completely in an instant.
He... was investigating her.
Her fingers trembled. Acting purely on instinct, she flipped open the report.
Name, age, education, work history...
And that glaring line.
[Seven years ago, took a leave of absence due to romantic complications...]
A chill shot up from the soles of her feet straight to her skull.
Her real purpose, the secret she'd hidden for seven years—was he about to unearth that too?
"What are you looking at?"
The man's low voice came without warning from behind her.
Juliana's body jolted violently. She scrambled to put the file back.
She turned stiffly, meeting Lucas's probing gaze.
He'd already ended the call. She hadn't heard him approach.
"Nothing. I was looking for paper and a pen."
Lucas caught every detail of her reaction but didn't call her out.
He simply walked back behind his desk and sat. "Finished the examination?"
"...Yeah." Juliana pulled out paper and pen from the medical kit, her voice hoarse. "Three regular meals. No spicy food. Take your medication on time."
She slapped the prescription on the desk. "I'm leaving."
Lucas watched her flee. He glanced at the report she'd disturbed.
His eyes darkened.
……
That night, at the villa.
Juliana had a dream.
She was back in that cold operating room seven years ago. Countless needles piercing her body. Sharp, twisting pain in her abdomen.
She tried to call for help, but no sound would come.
A blurred figure stood before her, telling her coldly, "The baby's gone. You're going to die too..."
"No—!"
Juliana screamed herself awake, forehead drenched in cold sweat.
That dream again.
Over the years, it had haunted her like a curse she couldn't shake.
"Mommy?"
The door opened. Matthew, in his little pajamas, walked in rubbing his eyes.
"Mommy, did you have a nightmare?" He climbed onto the bed, his small hand touching Juliana's cold forehead.
"I'm fine, Mommy's fine..." Juliana pulled him into her arms, her body still trembling uncontrollably.
Matthew said nothing more. After a while, he felt her breathing gradually steady. She seemed to have fallen back asleep.
He carefully slipped from her embrace and picked up the phone she'd tossed on the nightstand. He unlocked it with practiced ease.
He found the contact labeled 'Psycho' and hesitated. Instead of calling, he sent a message.
[Mommy had a nightmare. She's really upset.]
After sending it, he deleted the message and put the phone back where it had been.