Chapter 6
Juliana's stomach dropped.
She took a deep breath and let out a cold laugh. "Surveillance? Mr. Sharp, you must be seeing things. I went to the Sharp family today because your headmaster demanded I apologize in person. Then some Ms. Hale threw me out for no reason. I didn't even see your face—how could I have taken your son?"
Her expression was flawlessly innocent.
Lucas's frown deepened. He shifted his weight, using his shoulder to push the door wider, and stepped inside.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Juliana's voice shot up in alarm.
Lucas shut the door behind him. The space instantly felt smaller, more oppressive. His scent—tobacco and something cold—surrounded her.
"I'll ask one more time. Where is he?" His voice dropped dangerously low.
"I already told you—I don't know!" Juliana lifted her chin, meeting his glare head-on. "Mr. Sharp, is there actually something wrong with your head? I said it before—go see a psychiatrist. Stop showing up here acting unhinged!"
In the bedroom, Matthew caught every word of the exchange. This man was exactly the kind of trouble he'd expected.
In the living room, Lucas actually faltered at her words. He was thirty years old. Nobody had ever dared speak to him like this.
"Stubborn, aren't we?" He let out a harsh breath, his gaze sweeping across the modest apartment. "You think you can hide him? Fine. I'll search every room myself."
"You wouldn't dare!" Juliana grabbed his arm, her whole body tensing. "Lucas, don't push it!"
"Push it?" Lucas caught her chin, forcing her to look at him. His fingertips were rough, calloused, scraping against her smooth skin. "You kidnapped my son. Twice. And I'm the one pushing it?"
Juliana's heart hammered so hard it felt like it would jump out of her throat.
"I didn't!" She shoved him away with every ounce of strength she had, her eyes reddening with fury and fear. "Show me proof!"
"Proof?" Lucas pulled out his phone, swiping to the photo and shoving it in her face. "How's this for proof?"
In the image, she held 'Damian,' both of them beaming.
Juliana's pupils constricted.
"Get out!"
Some surge of strength she didn't know she possessed took over. She shoved him hard toward the door. Lucas, caught completely off guard, actually stumbled backward. A six-foot-tall man, pushed around by a woman who looked like a strong wind could knock her over.
"Juliana, calm down!"
The door slammed shut. The lock clicked into place from inside.
Lucas stood in the hallway, his expression black as thunderclouds.
Behind the door, Juliana slid down the cold surface until she was sitting on the floor, her body trembling uncontrollably.
The bedroom door cracked open.
Matthew poked his head out, watching his mother curled up in the living room. Clear concern flickered across his face. But he didn't go to her. He knew what she needed right now was quiet.
That man didn't know he existed. He only knew Mom had taken 'Damian.'
That was enough. The plan could continue.
Lucas stood outside the door, listening to the muffled, broken sounds of crying from within. His chest tightened with inexplicable irritation.
Crazy woman.
He turned on his heel and strode toward the elevator.
Inside the apartment, Juliana didn't know how long she sat there shaking before her phone buzzed in her pocket. The lawyer.
She drew a shaky breath and answered, her voice hoarse. "Hello..."
Matthew returned to the bedroom, fishing a children's smartwatch from his backpack. He quickly punched in a series of numbers and fired off a message.
[I'm going to find Dad. Don't worry.]
He hit send, then swiftly changed into the white shirt.
In the living room, Juliana was still on the phone with her lawyer, discussing legal strategies and the difficulty of gathering evidence.
Matthew slipped into the kitchen and opened the small door leading to the back stairwell. Without a moment's hesitation, he took the stairs down two at a time.
Lucas had just reached the ground floor when a tentative voice called out behind him.
"Daddy?"
He whipped around.
In the shadows of the stairwell entrance stood a small figure.
The nameless rage burning in Lucas's chest was instantly replaced by something far more complicated.
"Where did you go?" His voice was still heavy, but the edge had dulled.
"I..." Matthew looked up at him, eyes clear. "Daddy, let's go home."
Lucas's brow furrowed. Something was off. The child standing before him was too composed, too calm.
Lucas was about to press further when Matthew reached out and gently tugged at his sleeve. "Daddy, I'm really hungry."
His little terror of a son had never been this openly affectionate before.
Lucas's suspicions deepened, but looking down at that small face—so similar to his own—he didn't ask. Instead, he lifted the boy into his arms, his expression stern.
"Don't run off like that again. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
The Sharp Estate.
The Rolls-Royce pulled through the gates. Everyone in the living room rushed out to greet them.
"Dami!" Ashley saw her grandson safe and sound in Lucas's arms, and the knot of anxiety in her chest finally loosened. "My precious boy, where did you run off to? You scared Grandma half to death!"
Matthew climbed down from Lucas's embrace and offered a polite but distant greeting. "Grandma."
Ashley blinked. Something about her grandson seemed... different today.
Just then, Bianca came rushing over, tears streaming down her face. "Dami! Thank God you're okay! Do you have any idea how worried I was?" She reached out to hug him.
Matthew sidestepped her touch.
Bianca froze. "Dami, I've been looking for you all day, you know that? How can you be so rude? I canceled my appearances to stay here at the Sharp family, just to help find you!"
Lucas's expression turned to ice.
Looking at Bianca's tear-stained face only filled him with disgust.
"He's hungry. You should leave."
"Lucas, this is all my fault—I should have watched Dami more carefully. Let me stay and make it up to him..." Even as Bianca spoke about the child, her body drifted closer and closer to Lucas.
"Get out." Lucas had reached his limit.
Bianca's crying stopped abruptly. "Lucas, you... what did you say?"
"Get out of the Sharp family." Lucas lifted his gaze, pinning her with an icy stare. "Do I need to call security?"
Bianca registered the frost in his eyes and knew no amount of playing the victim would work this time. She shot a venomous glare at Matthew, who stood quietly to the side, then let herself be 'escorted' out by the butler, resentment written all over her face.
Lucas had the servants take Matthew upstairs to wash up. Then he turned to face his mother, who was still reeling from the scene.
"Mom." He stepped closer to Ashley. "That woman, Juliana—who is she really?"
Ashley's face went pale. "I... I already told you, she's just some delusional woman trying to latch onto the Sharp family!"
"Is that right?" Lucas's laugh was bitter. "A delusional nobody made you panic like that?"
Ashley's whole body trembled.
Her lips quivered. "I don't know what you're talking about! Don't let her fool you!"
"So you're not going to tell me." The last shred of patience drained from Lucas's eyes.
Ashley saw the disappointment and coldness in her son's expression. Her heart seized. The room started spinning. Everything went dark.
"I... I feel dizzy..."
She clutched her chest, her body going limp as she collapsed toward the sofa.