Chapter 389

Vincent finally pieced it together. Claude had orchestrated every detail of Hannah's escape, and she'd executed it with flawless precision, slipping away with Margaret under the cover of careful timing, unseen by a single soul. Each movement,each step, had been set into place with ruthless precision.

Vincent broke into a jagged laugh, the sound cutting through the air like shards of glass. His eyes snapped back to Hannah,raw and unblinking, his voice rasping from deep in his throat."Tell me-when did you start planning this escape?"

Hannah held his gaze without wavering, her composure unshaken. "To get away from you? That's all I've ever planned,every damn day!" she spat out.

The last flicker of hope in Vincent's eyes guttered out,leaving behind only a hard, merciless gleam. "So every word, every promise, you were lying all along."

It was no question-just a brutal truth.

"That's right." Her answer came without a pause, her voice stripped of apology, of softness. "Every soft word, every tear,every moment I leaned on you-it was all an act."

Vincent let out another laugh, sharp and hollow, a sound stripped of joy. It carried only the sting of betrayal, the bitterness of a man outplayed. "Well done, Hannah. You had me kneel in front of everyone, beg for your hand, and give you everything you asked for. All of it-just for this moment?"

Her expression remained perfectly composed, her voice steady and unshaken. "Yes. Every single part of it was deliberate-every step was planned."

Vincent's hands curled so tightly that his knuckles turned bone Vincent's hands curled so tightly that his knuckles turned bone -white, veins bulging against his skin. "Then why stop now?Why not keep the lies going? You could've chained me to you forever. You could've used the child to lock me in place. You could've had the security, the title, the life you always wanted.So why tell me the truth now?"

She didn't flinch under his fury. Her gaze held his, unyielding,her tone smooth and unhurried, like a still lake untouched by wind. "Because I'm leaving you, and I'm never coming back.That life you call love, Vincent-that gilded cage you tried to force around me-it was never mine."

Her words cut through him clean and merciless. Each syllable landed sharp and final, driving deeper than any blade. He sucked in a jagged breath, wrestling down the fury boiling inside,the suffocating crush of betrayal pressing against his chest.When he finally managed to speak, his voice dipped low,almost breaking into a plea. "Fine. You win. You've outplayed me.Satisfied?"

He closed the distance between them,every word laced with desperation, reaching for anything that might keep Wer from slipping away. "Please, Hannah, just come back with me. l swear I won't lock you down anymore. Go wherever you want,live however you want. I'll give you everything you ask for.Just.,. come back. If not for me, then at least for our baby.What about the baby? He deserves both his father and a place to belong. You can't just-"

"Baby?" Claude's voice cut in like a blade, sharp and disbelieving. His face tightened with shock as he looked at Anna. "You're pregnant?"

For the briefest moment, Claude's composure faltered. The news rocked him, leaving his expression unsettled-until the surprise hardened into a quiet, unshakable resolve. He fixed his gaze on Hannah, his words carrying a hard, certain edge. "If there's a baby, then I will help you with whatever I can. No there's a baby, then I will help you with whateverI can. No matter what comes, I'll be there. I'll be his father if you need me to."

Claude's words hit Vincent like a punch to the gut, each syllable splintering through his chest. But Hannah's brow furrowed. Her eyes slid past Vincent and landed on Claude,though her voice stayed cool, stripped of warmth. "Thank you,but my answer is no."

Turning back, she fixed Vincent with a steady, unflinching stare.Her tone sharpened, each word deliberate. "There is no child.I was never pregnant."

The revelation detonated like a bomb in the air, leaving only silence.

Vincent went rigid, as if the confession had driven a knife through his chest. His breathing hitched, jagged and uneven,and his gaze dropped to her stomach in disbelief. "How could that be? After everything and all those nights together... You must be lying."

"I'm not." Her reply struck with the clean snap of glass shattering in the cold. "You thought there was a child, Vincent,but there wasn't. That test result you saw? I paid for it-each line nothing more than the doctor's false script. From the beginning to the end, the pregnancy was nothing but a lie.Verify it yourself if you don't believe me."

Claude dragged in a sharp breath, the weight of her confession crashing over him like a wrecking ball. Even he, who thought he had accounted for every move, hadn't foreseen this twist. His eyes widened, fixed on her with a reverence that bordered on awe. "Hannah,you executed this flawlessly."

In that instant, Claude understood. Her departure wasn't a whim or a desperate gamble-it was determination written long before this moment. No matter the cost, he would get her out of here. Vincent, meanwhile, stood hollowed out, his face drained of blood and breath, stripped of everything except the raw emptiness gnawing inside him. She anchored her deception in a child that never existed to break<him completely.

The only sound left was the furious chop of helicopter bolades cleaving through the silence.

Hannah didn't glance at Vincent again-didn't look at the ruin etched into his face or the wreckage carved into his eyes. She turned with calm precision, steady in every step, and placed her hand on the cabin door. Her voice cut clean through the air, cool and final. "Claude,let's go."

Yet, Vincent's raw voice pierced the churning thunder of the helicopter. "You think you can just slip away from this? You're not done with me yet!"

In the breathless pause that followed, his fingers twitched in a small, commanding gesture.

Engines erupted, and a fleet of black SUVs screeched onto the helipad, tires spitting smoke as doors flew wide. Nearly two dozen men in body armor stormed out, snapping into a tight semi-circle. Their rifles came up in perfect unison, barrels aimed squarely at Claude's mnen without hesitation.

Claude's men snapped to meet the threat, steel flashing as their weapons locked into position, sights trained straight back.

The atmosphere grew heavy, a wire of tension stretched tight between the two sides.

Hannah's hand slid instinctively to the cold weight at her hip-the pistol Claude had pressed into her palm when they met earlier. She pulled it free in one swift, fluid motion, stepping past the line and raising the muzzle until it leveled with Vincent's chest. Her voice cut through the roar, striking like lightning against the storm. "Vincent, don't force me into this."