His Heir, Her Secret - Chapter 39: Chapter 39

Isla
It started with a knock.
Not the hesitant kind, or the friendly rap you hear from a neighbor or delivery driver. This one was firm. Official. It reverberated through the polished wood of Lucien’s penthouse door like the sound of a gavel striking a courtroom bench.
Leo was asleep upstairs. I’d just finished brushing through his curls, soft and springy from his bath, and left a nightlight on to ease the dark. Now, standing in the marble foyer barefoot in one of Lucien’s button-downs, I stared at the door like it might explode.
Lucien came up behind me, his voice low and calm. “Stay behind me.”
When he opened it, two men in charcoal-gray suits stood on the other side. One was holding a document in a sleek black envelope. The other wore the stiff expression of someone trying not to judge you while doing exactly that.
“Lucien Wolfe?” the man asked.
“Yes.”
“You’ve been served.”
He handed Lucien the envelope and turned without another word. No dramatic threats, no comments. Just a clean, legal transaction that sent my entire world careening off its axis.
Lucien didn’t open the envelope right away. He looked at it like it was laced with venom, fingers tightening around the seal. Then, slowly, methodically, he tore it open.
I watched his eyes skim the document. Once. Twice. Then he handed it to me without a word.
Petition for Custody
Filed by: Damon Cross
Plaintiff seeks full custody of minor child, Leo Monroe—alleged biological son of Damon Cross.
My knees buckled, and I sat hard on the velvet bench beside the staircase. For a second, I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t see. The words blurred into smudges, but the pain was crystal clear.
“He filed for custody,” I whispered, like saying it out loud would make it make sense.
Lucien crouched in front of me, his hands gentle but steady as they wrapped around mine. “He’s making his move. Just like we expected.”
“No,” I said, my voice shaking. “We talked about the possibility. We didn’t expect this. Not like this. Not so soon.”
He nodded once, grim. “Because I moved first. Because I claimed you and Leo.”
I pressed the paper to my chest and tried to calm the storm building behind my ribs. My past had always loomed like a shadow, but this was different. This wasn’t just the ghost of Damon returning. This was a legal war.
“What does he think this will do?” I asked. “He didn’t even want Leo.”
Lucien’s eyes were dark with fury. “He doesn’t want Leo. He wants control. Of you. Of the narrative. This isn’t about fatherhood. It’s about ownership.”
My stomach turned.
“Lucien… what if he wins?”
He stood slowly. “He won’t.”
But I heard the unspoken words in his silence. This won’t be easy.
I rose to my feet, hands trembling as I walked toward the kitchen island where I’d left my phone. I didn’t want to look—but I had to.
Sure enough, my name was already trending.
#LucienWolfeHeir
#SecretBabyScandal
#IslaMonroe
And beneath it all—headlines spun like poisoned threads.
Mother of Lucien’s “secret son” faces custody battle with powerful ex.
Damon Cross claims Isla Monroe abducted his child.
Is Isla Monroe unfit to raise the heir to the Wolfe fortune?
I sank onto a stool and covered my face with both hands. My lungs refused to work properly. My vision blurred again—not from panic this time, but from fury. Pure, unfiltered, helpless rage.
Lucien took the phone from my hands and set it aside. “Don’t read any more of that garbage.”
“But people believe it,” I said. “They believe him.”
“They won’t for long. We’ll put out a statement. A timeline. We have documents. Records. Witnesses who knew you had no contact with him after Leo’s birth.”
“But does it matter?” I whispered. “The courts won’t care what I went through. They’ll care about what they can prove. Damon’s powerful. And he’s smart. He’ll twist it all.”
Lucien crouched again, lifting my chin with gentle fingers. “Then we’ll be smarter.”
His voice was a quiet promise. Steady and sharp.
“You’re not doing this alone,” he added. “Not anymore.”
I nodded slowly, but I couldn’t shake the knot in my stomach. I’d spent years building a quiet life, avoiding conflict, doing everything I could to protect Leo from the man I once feared.
And now that man was dragging us into the spotlight.
I hated that Leo was asleep upstairs, unaware of the storm coming. Hated that his peaceful little world would soon be dissected, analyzed, questioned.
I would die before I let Damon take him.
“I have to talk to Claire,” I said. “And Cassie. I need character witnesses, people from the clinic who knew me, who saw how I raised him alone.”
Lucien nodded. “Good. I’ve already got my legal team assembling evidence. And we’ll hire a PR strategist to reframe the story. There’s no version of this where Damon comes out clean.”
“I don’t care about how he looks. I care about Leo.”
Lucien reached out and gently cupped my cheek. “So do I.”
There was a knock at the bedroom door upstairs. A small voice called out, half-asleep.
“Mama?”
My chest cracked.
I hurried up the steps, slipping into Leo’s room and pulling him into my arms. He was drowsy, rubbing his eyes with tiny fists, his curls a tangle of bedtime chaos.
“Did I wake you, sweetheart?” I whispered.
He nodded against my shoulder. “I had a dream Daddy was mad.”
I froze.
Lucien appeared in the doorway behind me, silent and watchful.
Leo blinked up at us both. “But he didn’t look like this Daddy.”
I smiled softly and kissed the top of his head. “Well, dreams aren’t real, my love. This Daddy loves you very much. And he’s right here.”
Leo smiled sleepily and curled into me again. “I love him too.”
Lucien walked over and sat beside us on the bed. He reached out slowly, brushing a curl from Leo’s forehead.
“You’re safe,” he whispered. “I promise.”
And somehow, I believed him.
Even as my whole world threatened to burn.