Chapter 77
“Shit,” Elara breathed, her hands tightening on the steering wheel.
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She immediately pulled over to the side of the road, nearly giving Emeka a heart attack in the process.
“What are you doing?” he yelped from the backseat.
“I need to go,” Elara said, already unbuckling her seatbelt. “Mimi, can you drive us back to where my driver is? I need to get to Marcus’s office now.”
“What’s happening?” Mimi asked, concern flooding her face.
“My father showed up at Marcus’s company causing problems, I need to handle this before it gets worse.”
They switched seats quickly, Mimi taking over the driving while Elara sat in the passenger seat with her leg bouncing anxiously. The drive back to the café felt like it took forever even though it was only ten minutes. When they pulled up, Elara practically jumped out of the car before it settled on park mode.
“Thank you guys for today,” she said quickly. “I’ll call you later.”
“Do you want us to come with you?” Emeka asked, leaning forward from the backseat.
“No, I’ll be fine. I just need to deal with this.”
She ran to where her driver was parked, waiting patiently. He looked up in surprise when he saw her rushing toward him.
“Ma’am? Is everything alright?”
“Take me to Thorne Dynamics. Now. Please.”
The driver must have heard the urgency in her voice because he didn’t ask any questions. Just started the engine and pulled out into traffic, navigating through the city streets as quickly as the afternoon congestion would allow.
Elara sat in the backseat, her hands formed into fists on her lap, she was raging. Of course Luca would do this. Of course he wouldn’t take no for an answer at the hospital. He’d probably been planning this the entire time, waiting for the perfect moment to ambush Marcus and cause maximum embarrassment.
When they finally pulled up to Thorne Dynamics Tower, Elara didn’t even wait for the driver to fully stop. She opened the door while the car was still moving, jumped out, and ran toward the entrance.
The moment she stepped into the lobby, she saw them.
Marcus and Luca were standing near the reception desk, not quite arguing but the tension between them ..was visible even from a distance. Marcus’s posture was rigid, his jaw squeezed in anger. Luca was gesturing
wildly with his hands, his movements unsteady.
Elara walked over quickly, her heels clicking against the tiled floor. When she reached them, she went straight to Marcus and hugged him, needing that moment of contact to ground herself.
“What’s up?” she asked quietly, though she already knew.
Chapter 77
May
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Marcus’s arm came around her briefly before dropping back to his side. His voice was tight when he spoke. “I was in my office attending to some Zoom meetings when I got a call from reception. They said there’s a man here saying he wanted to see me.”
The receptionist, a young woman Elara recognized from previous visits, nodded nervously. “We asked if he had an appointment. He said no. We told him he’d have to come back or wait until Mr. Thorne was available, but he refused and started knocking things off the desk, so I had to call up and disrupt the meeting.”
Marcus continued, his eyes not leaving Elara’s face. “Now he’s saying he’s your father.”
Elara felt heat creep up her neck, shame burning through her chest. Nobody would want to introduce their drunk, irresponsible gambler of a father to their husband. Nobody at all. The shame of it, the humiliation of having this man connected to her by blood, it was almost too much to bear.
“Luca, what’s wrong with you?” she said, turning to face him.
Marcus cut her off. “Is he your dad?”
The question was simple, direct. Elara could have lied. Could have said no, that this was some random man trying to scam them. But she couldn’t do that. Not to Marcus. Not after everything.
She nodded. “Yes. He’s my dad.”
Marcus’s expression didn’t change, but something changed in his eyes.
Elara turned back to Luca. “Luca, what’s wrong with you?”
He staggered slightly, catching himself on the edge of the reception desk. His movements were loose and uncoordinated, the telltale signs of someone who’d been drinking for hours.
“Nothing at all,” he slurred, grinning stupidly. “I’m absolutely fine. What about you?”
The smell hit Elara then, that overpowering stench of alcohol that seemed to radiate from his pores. It was so strong it made her stomach turn, her pregnancy-heightened senses making it even worse. She had to step back, putting distance between them.
“Well,” Luca continued, steadying himself, “about what we spoke about earlier today. Have you discussed it with your husband yet?”
Elara was genuinely shocked. He couldn’t be serious. He couldn’t actually think she’d bring this ridiculous request to Marcus.
“What are you talking about?” she asked, even though she knew exactly what he meant.
“The money, of course!” Luca’s voice was getting louder now, drawing looks from the few people in the lobby. “The one your husband is supposed to settle me with because I gave birth to you. I deserve it. It’s “my right, you know.”
Before Elara could respond, Luca pushed past her, actually physically moved her aside like she was an obstacle in his path. He stumbled toward Marcus, who took an instinctive step back.
“Since I’m here with your husband now, we can talk man to man,” Luca said, his words running together. “Women are so pathetic anyway.”
14:57 Mon, May 11 d
Chapter
He reached out and grabbed Marcus’s hand, trying to shake it in some warped attempt at establishing camaraderie.
Marcus yanked his hand away so fast it was like Luca had burned him. The look of disgust on his face was unmistakable, his lip curling slightly as he took another step back.
“Man. please don’t touch me.” Marcus said, his voice cold but still respectful.
Elara’s heart broke completely at the look on his face. The revulsion. The contempt. She could see him making calculations in his head, connecting her to this man, wondering what it said about her that she came from someone like this.
Luca either didn’t notice or didn’t care. He just shrugged and continued on, undeterred.
“Well, if you don’t want us to talk in private, I might as well say it here in front of everyone.” He gestured around the lobby like he was addressing an audience. “This is my child, Elara Vance. I’m Mr. Vance. Luca Vance. Which means I gave birth to her.”
“Did you even train me?” Elara interrupted, anger finally breaking through the shame. “Mum did all the work while you were drunk somewhere. You weren’t there.”
Luca ignored her completely, his focus entirely on Marcus now. “Now, where I’m from, before you marry a girl, you have to meet the father and settle him. Compensate him for taking care of the girl and training her up to that point.”
He looked around the lobby again, his eyes taking in the marble floors, the expensive furniture, the massive Thorne Dynamics logo on the wall. Elara could practically see him calculating Marcus’s worth. adding up the value of everything in sight.
“I want just one million,” Luca said finally, turning back to Marcus with that same sloppy grin. “One million dollars and I’ll leave you both to enjoy your happy ever after.”
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14:57 Mon, May 11
