The room stayed silent long after the video ended.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
The image of the little girl lingered on the screen like a bruise.
"Mommy said he's supposed to love me."
Lucian stared at the frozen frame.
Dark curls.
Wide eyes.
Small fingers gripping the silver crescent charm like it was the only stable thing in her world.
Something inside him twisted hard enough to hurt.
Not because the child was his.
She wasn't.
He knew that now.
But because somewhere along the line, Vivienne had built a lie so large it trapped a child inside it.
And children—
Children paid for adult cruelty more than anyone.
Lucian's jaw tightened.
"We leave now."
⸻
Thirty Minutes Later
The rain had softened by the time the convoy reached the private airfield.
Not stopped.
Just softened into a cold silver mist that wrapped around the runway lights and black vehicles like something out of a war film.
Lucian's jet waited near the far end of the tarmac.
Massive.
Dark.
