My Unborn Baby Chose My Husband for Me novel Chapter 17

"I know exactly what happened yesterday," Lucian cut him off sharply. "I was there."

Lawrence froze.

Charlene's eyes darted around before she eagerly hijacked the conversation. "Lucian, if you were there, then you know exactly how disastrous it was! Her wedding blew up in her face, and the very next day she's clinging to you? Who knows if she's just..."

"Just what?" Lucian raised his eyes, a suffocating, freezing aura rolling off him in waves.

Eleanor slammed her hand onto the table. "Enough! Charlene, quit your snide insinuations right this instant! Sera is my granddaughter-in-law, and the child in her belly is a Langford. Who dares to have a problem with that?"

"Mom, we don't have a problem with it," Lawrence said, pasting on an apologetic smile. "We just want to be absolutely sure, that's all. How about... a paternity test? Once the baby is born, we run a quick DNA test, and then everyone can rest easy."

A paternity test!?

Seraphina felt as if an invisible hand had ruthlessly squeezed her heart.

Even though she knew the child in her womb was undeniably Lucian's, being openly interrogated like this triggered a suffocating wave of humiliation.

Little Bean's voice trembled with sheer panic and rage. *Mommy, how could they be so mean... I am Daddy's baby... Ugh! These two villains...*

Seraphina pressed her lips together, straightened her spine, and spoke with unwavering calm. "Of course. No problem at all."

"Lawrence, since you have doubts, why don't we make a bet?" Lucian interjected smoothly. "If the child isn't mine, I will walk away with absolutely nothing. I will forfeit every single dime and every asset of the Langford empire."

The moment the words left Lucian's mouth, a dead silence smothered the living room.

The corners of his lips curled into a dangerously subtle smirk. "But if the child *is* mine, Lawrence... what price are you willing to pay for this insult?"

Lawrence's face drained of all color.

He never expected Lucian to escalate it so brutally.

Walk away with absolutely nothing? Forfeiting the entire empire? What kind of insane gamble was that?

Eleanor watched the scene unfold, her blazing fury slowly melting into profound satisfaction.

She fixed a lethal glare on Lawrence and Charlene, her voice snapping like a whip. "You heard him. Lucian laid out the terms. If you're still losing sleep over it, we'll run the test when the baby arrives. And when the results prove that child is Lucian's flesh and blood, both of you are permanently banished from this manor. Don't even bother crawling back for the holidays."

Lawrence looked as though he were about to faint.

Charlene was trembling wildly. "Mom, we didn't mean it like that... We just care so much about Lucian, we were terrified he was being played..."

"Enough." Eleanor waved them off with absolute disgust. "Stop embarrassing yourselves in my home. Get out of my sight before I really lose my temper."

Despite her fear, Charlene's mind raced with suspicion.

Lucian hadn't let a single woman get within ten feet of him for years. How could he miraculously produce a wife who was over two months pregnant?

Originally, they had arranged an extortion trap for Lucian, but his security was airtight, and he never took the bait.