His Heir, Her Secret - Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Isla
The morning had started like a dream.
I watched Leo run circles around the living room, his laughter echoing off the walls. His cheeks were flushed, his curls bouncing, and I couldn’t stop smiling. Lucien sat nearby on the rug, pretending to be a dinosaur, arms comically raised as he roared. Leo squealed in delight and tackled him.
It was ridiculous. And perfect.
For the first time in years, I allowed myself to imagine a version of this that could last. A version where mornings started with giggles instead of lonely silence. Where coffee didn’t taste bitter from regret. Where Lucien Vale was more than a memory or a shadow—he was real, solid, here.
He had stayed the night. Not out of convenience, but out of something else. Something deeper.
And then the knock came.
Firm. Rhythmic. Cold.
Lucien stood instantly, his smile gone in a flash. “Stay here,” he said, his voice low. His eyes had changed. The soft warmth I’d seen just moments ago vanished—replaced with the sharp, unreadable steel of the man I used to know. The billionaire. The strategist. The one who ruled rooms and held secrets like weapons.
“Lucien—” I started, but he was already at the door.
I gathered Leo quickly and held him close, retreating toward the hallway but keeping a line of sight.
Lucien opened the door.
The woman who stepped inside was… stunning. Sharp blond bob. Crimson lips. A tailored black coat that probably cost more than my monthly rent. She didn’t smile.
“Lucien,” she said. Her voice dripped control. “Finally.”
His jaw flexed. “You shouldn’t be here, Caroline.”
Caroline?
The name was unfamiliar. But the possessive tone in her voice—and the way she looked around the room like she owned it—made every alarm bell in my body go off.
“I left you five messages,” she continued, her eyes finally landing on me with pointed interest. “None of which were returned.”
Lucien didn’t flinch. “Because I didn’t want to talk.”
“Clearly.” Her gaze flicked to Leo. Her expression sharpened. “Is this what you’ve been hiding?”
I felt Leo tense in my arms. I pulled him tighter, instinct bristling.
Lucien stepped between us like a shield. “You don’t get to ask questions.”
Caroline laughed once, cruel and elegant. “Oh, come on. You disappear for days, cancel two investor meetings, blow off the London board—and your press secretary is fielding rumors that you’ve suddenly acquired a family in the suburbs? What do you expect me to do, Lucien?”
“Leave,” he said evenly. “Now.”
But she didn’t move. “Is this what you’re doing now? Playing house? With her?”
Her voice made the word sound dirty. I took a breath to respond, but Lucien beat me to it.
“I said leave.”
Something in his voice changed. It wasn’t just stern—it was dangerous.
Caroline’s smile slipped. For the first time, I saw hesitation in her perfect features. Her eyes narrowed on me.
“You don’t know what you’re getting into,” she said softly. “Do you even know the kind of man he is?”
“I know enough,” I replied, keeping my voice steady.
“Do you?” she sneered. “Lucien Vale doesn’t do family. He does power. Deals. Leverage. He uses what he needs to get what he wants. And when he’s done, he leaves.”
I felt Leo shift in my arms. He was watching her now, confused, scared. And I felt a deep, primal fury rise in my chest.
“Then I guess he’s not the man you think he is anymore,” I said, meeting her stare.
She laughed again, bitter and brittle. “You think you’ve changed him? That’s cute.”
“I don’t have to change him. He changed the moment he met his son.”
The word hit like a weapon. Son.
Caroline’s eyes widened. She turned to Lucien. “You knew?”
He didn’t answer.
She shook her head slowly, like she was watching an empire collapse. “You’re throwing everything away. Your control. Your leverage. Your name. For this?”
“Yes,” Lucien said. No hesitation. “Gladly.”
The room fell quiet.
For a second, Caroline just stared at him—like she was trying to find some version of the man she used to know behind his eyes. And when she couldn’t, she stepped back toward the door.
“This isn’t over,” she said to him. “You still have obligations. You can’t just disappear.”
Lucien folded his arms. “Watch me.”
Without another word, she turned and left, heels clicking sharply down the walkway. Lucien closed the door behind her and exhaled hard, bracing both hands against the wood like he needed something to hold him upright.
I stepped forward slowly. “Who was she?”
“Caroline. She runs public strategy for Vale International.” He turned, jaw tight. “And for a long time, she thought we were going to build an empire together.”
“Were you…?”
He met my eyes. “Never romantically. But she wanted more than I could give. And she doesn’t like losing.”
“She seemed… dangerous.”
“She is. In the way ambition with no limits always is.”
I nodded, absorbing that. “And the things she said? About you using people?”
He stepped toward me. “Were true. Before.”
I looked up at him. “And now?”
“Now I wake up thinking about whether my son is afraid of thunder,” he said softly. “Now I care more about breakfast and bedtime stories than the stock market. Now… I care what you think of me.”
That cracked something open inside me again. The old scar. The aching wound I’d tried to cover for years.
“You scared me,” I whispered. “By how easily you let me go. By how much power you had to hurt me without ever trying.”
He touched my cheek. “I’ll spend every day undoing that if you let me.”
Leo appeared beside us, reaching for Lucien’s hand. “Was she mad?”
Lucien crouched down and picked him up, holding him close. “No, buddy. Just confused.”
Leo looked at me. “Is she gonna come back?”
I didn’t have an answer. But Lucien did.
“If she does, we’ll handle it together,” he said.
And something about the way he said together made me believe him.
Even as the world beyond our door threatened to pull us apart again.