Chosen By The Cursed Alpha King (Emilia) novel Chapter 216

LUCIENS POV

My ears rang. My chest felt tight, like someone had wrapped iron bands around my ribs and was slowly cranking them tighter.

I didn’t even hear what Maximus said to the doctor. Ljust stood there, frozen, staring at that envelope like it was a live grenade with the pin half-pulled. My hands started shaking before I even realized it. Small tremors at first, then worse, until I could barely keep my arms crossed.

I don’t remember moving to the couch. One second I was standing by the desk, the next I was sinking down onto the soft leather, elbows on my knees, staring at the floor.

The envelope sat on my thigh now…my fingers curled around it, but I couldn’t make them open it. Couldn’t make myself look

The door clicked shut behind the doctor. The sound felt final. Like the last second before a storm hits.

“Everything will be fine,” Emilia said softly from beside me.

I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. My throat was too tight. My mind was screaming, replaying every second of that day on the training ground…Andrea clinging to my leg, calling me Daddy with those big, trusting eyes. Naomi standing there with that smug little smile, like she’d already won.

And Adele…God, Adele. The way her face had gone pale,the hurt in her eyes when she walked away. We’d fought so hard to get here. Marked each other. Promised forever.

And now this.

What if it was true?

What if Andrea really was mine?

The thought made my stomach lurch. A chitd. My child.

With Naomi. Not Adele. Not my mate. Some mistake from years ago, some night I barely remembered, before Adele came into my life and made everything make sense.

I’d spent my whole life terrified of fatherhood because of what happened to my mom. Scared id curse any woman! loved the way my father said 1 cursed her. Adele had pulled me out of that darkness, told me it wasn’t my fault, that I could be a good father. We’d talked about it— dreamed about it-quietly, in the dark, her head on my chest. A future. Our future.

My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. The paper crinkled under my grip.

I have to open it, I thought. Just do it. Rip the damn thing open and know.

But I couldn’t move.

Emilia shifted closer. I felt the couch dip, felt the warmth of her beside me. She didn’t push. Didn’t say anything stupid like “it’ll be okay” again. She just waited.

I took a long, ragged breath. Forced my fingers to work.The flap tore slowly, the sound loud in the quiet room. pulled out the single sheet of paper, unfolded it with trembling hands.

My eyes scanned the words, but they blurred at first. Then they sharpened. Too sharp

Paternity Probability: 99.9998%

The numbers stared back at me, cold and final.

He was mine.

Andrea was mine.

My heart didn’t just sink—it crashed through the floor and kept falling. I felt sick. Dizzy. Like the room was tilting sideways.

I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breathe right.

I turned the paper toward Emilia, wordless, and held it out.

She took it gently. Read it. Her breath caught.

Would she still want to build a future with me when part of that future now belonged to someone else?

I didn’t know.

And that not-knowing felt like a knife twisting slowly in my chest.

The room stayed quiet. Emilia’s hand stayed on my shoulder. Maximus watched me with those unreadable king eyes. The envelope lay crumpled on my lap.

I had to tell her.

Soon.

But the thought of watching Adele’s heart break all over again made me want to run. Made me want to shift anddisappear into the woods until the pain dulled.

Except I couldn’t run.

Not from this.

Not from her.

I closed my eyes, took one last shaky breath, and whispered:

“I’m going to lose her.”

No one answered

Bęcause deep down, we all knew it was possible.