I Fled With His Secret Child

hair was pinned up, exposing the elegant line of her neck.

My feet moved before my brain issued the command.

"Lucian?" Corinne called out.

Her hand caught my elbow.

"Where are you going?" she asked. "The Tokyo investors are waiting."

"Not now." I pulled my arm free.

"Wait!"

She hurried after me, her fingers digging into my suit jacket.

I ignored her. I shoved past a group of bankers. A champagne glass shattered on the marble floor. I didn't stop.

Opal was standing next to a tall, broad-shouldered man in a navy tuxedo. He had his hand on the small of her back.

That hand did not belong there.

I planted myself directly in their path.

Opal blinked. Her expression remained entirely flat. No shock. No tears. Just blank indifference.

"Did you really think this would work?" I asked. I kept my chin high, looking down at her.

She tilted her head. "Excuse me?"

"Crashing my victory gala." I let my gaze sweep over her silver dress. "Showing up here, dressing like you belong in this circle. Are you that desperate for my attention?"

"I didn't come here for you, Lucian," she said flatly.

"Then why are you here?" I challenged. "You don't know anyone in high society. You barely left the house when we were together."

"People change," she replied.

"Not this much. Not this fast." I stepped closer, invading her space. "Admit it. You found out about the eastern seaboard deal and wanted to see what you were missing."

The man in the navy suit shifted closer to her.

"Is there a problem here, Opal?" he asked.

"No, Rayner," she replied quietly. "Just a minor roadblock."

A minor roadblock.

My jaw locked.

"I am not a roadblock," I told her. "I am the man who owns this hotel. I own the ground you are standing on."

Rayner raised an eyebrow. "Congratulations. Do you want a medal, or just basic manners?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Who the hell are you?"

Before Rayner could answer, Corinne finally caught up.

She was panting slightly. She hooked her arm through mine, pressing her chest against my bicep. She looked Opal up and down, a sharp, mocking smile twisting her lips.

"Oh, I see," Corinne laughed softly. "It's just Opal."

The surrounding guests stopped talking. The silence spread fast. Eyes turned toward us.

"Lucian, darling, you shouldn't be so harsh," Corinne announced, projecting her voice for the nearest tables to hear. "It must be incredibly hard for her."

I frowned, glancing at Corinne. "What do you mean?"

"Spending all those years playing my understudy," Corinne sneered. "Only to be tossed aside the second the real thing came back. Did you buy that dress off a clearance rack? It looks like a cheap knockoff of the one I wore in Milan."

Opal looked at Corinne's designer gown, then back to her face.

"If it makes you feel better to think that, go ahead," Opal said.

Corinne's smile faltered for a fraction of a second.

"You always were pathetic," Corinne continued, projecting her voice louder. "You kept his bed warm. We all know it. You were a convenient placeholder. And now you're crashing our celebration just to beg for scraps."

Whispers erupted across the ballroom.

"A stand-in?" a woman muttered to my left.

"I heard she tried to mimic Miss Mercer's hair," another voice hissed.

"Pathetic," an older man chimed in.

Opal didn't flinch. She didn't look at the whispering crowd. She kept her eyes fixed on my face.

"Are you finished?" Opal asked.

I hated how calm she sounded. She was supposed to be a mess. She was supposed to be in tears, humiliated by Corinne's words.

Instead, she looked utterly bored.

I pointed a finger at the man beside her. "Who is this?"

"My name is Rayner," the man answered. His voice sounded deep and steady.

"I didn't ask you," I snapped.

I glared at Opal.

"What is your relationship with him?" I demanded.

"Why do you care?" Opal asked.

"Because you are making a scene at my event," I lied. The truth was, seeing another man touch her made my blood boil. "Are you paying him to be here? To make me jealous?"

Corinne tightened her grip on my arm.

"She probably hired him for the night," Corinne mocked. "To save face. Or maybe he's just another charity case she picked up off the street."

Rayner chuckled. It was a dark, amused sound.

"Charity case," Rayner repeated. "That's a new one."

"Answer the question, Opal," I pressed, stepping closer. "Are you sleeping with him?"

Rayner stepped forward, his shoulders squaring.

"Watch how you speak to her," Rayner warned.

"I'll speak to my ex-wife however I please," I fired back.

"Ex-wife," Rayner corrected smoothly. "Which means you have zero authority here. Keep your voice down, or I will put you down."

I balled my hands into fists.

"You are in my hotel," I spat. "I could have my security team break your legs and throw you out the back door."

"Try it," Rayner challenged, his gaze turning icy.

"Tell him to back off, Opal," I warned. "Before I ruin both of your lives."

Opal let out a short, hollow laugh.

"That is none of your business," she said.

"You are my—"

"I am nothing to you," she interrupted.

Her voice carried no anger, only cold finality.

"We are divorced, Lucian," she stated clearly. "The papers are signed. The ink is dry. Who I see, where I go, and whose bed I share is completely out of your jurisdiction."

The words struck me right in the chest.

"Divorced?" a board member whispered nearby.

"I didn't even know he was married," someone else replied.

"He kept her hidden all this time?"

Opal turned to her companion.

"Let's go, Rayner," she said. "The air in here is getting stale. And the company is worse."

She slipped her arm through his.

"Opal, stop right there," I ordered.

She didn't stop. She didn't even look back.

Rayner guided her toward the exit. His hand rested securely on her waist. The silver fabric of her dress shimmered under the lights as she walked away from me.

Leaving me standing in the middle of my own party, exposed and humiliated.

Corinne laughed again.

"Good riddance," she chirped. "Now, about those investors—"

"Shut up," I snarled.

Corinne gasped. She dropped my arm as if I had burned her.

"Lucian!" she cried out.

The jealousy burned hot and fast in my veins. It blinded me. I couldn't let another man walk out with her. Not tonight. Not ever.

I broke into a run.

"Opal!" I shouted, sprinting toward the terrace doors.

"Sir, wait!" a security guard called out.

I pushed past him, knocking a tray of champagne flutes from a passing waiter. Glass shattered everywhere. I didn't care. I needed to reach her before she left.

I burst through the heavy glass doors into the cool night air.

"Opal, stop!"

But when I reached the edge of the driveway, a black town car was already pulling away from the curb.

I stood on the pavement, my chest heaving, watching the taillights disappear into the city traffic.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

I pulled it out, staring at the glowing screen.

It was a message from an unknown number.

*She's mine now.*