Chapter 546
"The patient remains under observation. She won't be discharged for at least another thirty minutes. While stable, she's sustained partial fractures in her lower limbs requiring extended recovery," the nurse explained. Lucas Bennett finally released the breath he'd been holding.
His attention snapped to the tiny bundle in the nurse's arms.
Claire Dawson's newborn.
"Who's the father? This preemie arrived four weeks early with aspiration pneumonia. We're transferring to NICU immediately - paternal signature required," the nurse pressed. The infant looked impossibly small.
Even with its eyes squeezed shut in sleep, the baby's resemblance to Claire was unmistakable.
Evelyn Carter exhaled in relief upon hearing Claire's condition wasn't critical.
Just fractures - painful but manageable. Thank heavens!
Then she saw the child.
Her breath hitched.
That nose. That jawline. The infant was Lucas Bennett in miniature.
Evelyn's gaze darted to Lucas. He was studying the baby with unsettling intensity, seemingly oblivious to the mirror image in swaddling blankets.
Evelyn's relief evaporated as Alexander Whitmore's eyebrows knitted together.
The financier's sharp eyes flicked between infant and friend, then narrowed in dawning comprehension.
Alexander remembered Claire's abortion claims, Lucas's insistence the child belonged to Julian Mercer. The pieces clicked into place with terrible clarity.
When the nurse requested the father's signature, Evelyn urgently nudged Julian. The model caught her meaning instantly. "I'll handle it," he declared, following the nurse down the corridor.
As they departed, the nurse murmured just loud enough for Julian and Evelyn to catch: "Is that gentleman the uncle? The resemblance is rather striking..."
Julian practically dragged the nurse around the corner.
Evelyn monitored Lucas's reaction like a hawk.
Unexpectedly, Lucas turned to Alexander. "How premature did she say?"
Evelyn's stomach dropped. The jig was up.
"Four weeks," Alexander confirmed evenly.
Evelyn watched the truth detonate behind Lucas's eyes.
In seconds, his expression transformed from confusion to shock to something dangerously close to euphoria.
Lucas seized Evelyn's shoulders. "Tell me the truth - that's my child, isn't it? Claire never terminated the pregnancy?" His voice cracked with barely restrained emotion.
Evelyn hesitated.
Claire had been adamant about raising this baby alone. She'd built an entire life around this secret.
But no contingency plan accounted for genetics this undeniable.
The nurse's premature birth comment had lit the fuse. Even if Evelyn stayed silent now, Lucas would uncover the truth within hours.
Still, loyalty kept her mute.