She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 859

Her hands shook uncontrollably. She was pregnant!

She was so desperate to tell Lucian that she couldn't even wait a single minute. She practically sprinted to his executive suite at Stellar Trust.

Inside, Nathan and Lucian were deep in a highly classified briefing over client portfolios. When she threw the doors open, both men looked up, their expressions instantly hardening.

Flushed and vibrating with an energy she had never displayed before, Sigrid completely ignored Nathan and slid right onto Lucian's lap.

"Darling, you are taking me out to dinner tonight. I have the best present in the world for you."

The moment she touched him, bile rose in Lucian's throat. Staring at the slender column of her neck, his first instinct was to wrap his hands around it and squeeze.

"I'm swamped," Lucian deflected smoothly. "Rain check."

"You can't clear one single hour for me?"

"Your father is handing me the Asia-Pacific division. I want the transition to be flawless. We have the rest of our lives to eat dinner together."

Unable to hold it in a second longer, Sigrid pulled the plastic wand from her designer bag and slammed it onto his desk. "I'm pregnant. Does this earn me one hour of your time to celebrate?"

"Pregnant?" Nathan gasped out, faster than Lucian could even react.

Sigrid's eyes snapped toward him, her gaze turning lethal. "A dog should know its place. Go wait in the hall."

Nathan's fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white. Swallowing the volcanic jealousy erupting in his chest, he forced his head down and stepped backward out of the room.

Lucian's lips curved into a slow, mocking smirk.

She actually had the nerve to demand a celebration, completely oblivious to the fact that the 'dog' she just kicked out was the father of her child.

Sigrid turned back, wrapping her arms around Lucian's neck. "Don't worry about him. This baby is yours. You are the only man I've been with."

Lucian's smile didn't reach his eyes. "I'll clear my schedule. Dinner is on me."

Sigrid felt like she had finally achieved absolute perfection. Resting a hand gently over her stomach, she leaned against his chest. "I have never felt so happy. It feels like I hold the entire world in the palm of my hand. Everything is flawless."

His eyes were chips of ice. "Is it?"

Missing his tone completely, she sighed happily. "Maybe I was just born under a lucky star. I'll always be loved."

Lucian chuckled softly. "Yes. So lucky."

*Let's see how long that luck lasts.*

The news of the pregnancy reached Horace Sterling almost immediately. He ordered the medical team to review the telemetry from Lucian's chip the moment he heard the news. The report showed that his usually flatlined emotional state had spiked dramatically.

"This is the kill list. Every single person Horace has destroyed to maintain his grip on the company," Nathan explained. "Executives marginalized for refusing to wash cartel money. Founders' children stripped of their inheritance. Veterans fired because they didn't bow low enough to Sigrid."

Lucian verified the names, then looked up. "Before the board meeting starts tomorrow, I want every single person on this list to receive an anonymous email."

Nathan glanced down at the list, his pupils shrinking slightly.

The sheer volume of names went far deeper than his own intelligence network had ever uncovered.

"When did you..."

Lucian didn't answer. He turned back to the glass, looking out over the sprawling city. "Before I ever put on a uniform, I was a businessman. Patience and absolute ruthlessness... that is who I really am."

Did these people really think his multi-billion-dollar empire back home was just handed to him by his grandfather?

He understood human greed better than anyone on earth.

"Horace has spent decades thinking he's untouchable. The older he gets, the sloppier he becomes. He forgot one fundamental rule: the more people you bury alive, the bigger the army waiting for you in hell."

He turned back to Nathan, a chilling, calculated smile on his face. "I am going to purge this company for you. I'm handing you the keys to Stellar Trust, and you've already secured the bloodline to make your claim legitimate. Tell me, Nathan... when you take the throne, you will act as my shield. Do we have a deal?"

Nathan extended his hand without hesitation. "Absolutely."