From Betrayal to Brilliance Her Rise to a New Life novel Chapter 390

**TITLE: Her Rise 390**
**Chapter 390 It Was Complicated**

But that child wasn’t even Lewis’s.

The realization surged through her like a wildfire, igniting a tempest of fury within her chest.

Lewis had made a conscious choice to deceive her when he learned the truth.

白

Finished

If only she had known the reality back then, she would have never brought a child into this world, a child whose father remained shrouded in mystery.

Yet, a flicker of hope, fragile and tenuous, lingered in the corners of her heart.

Perhaps Lewis had fabricated his lies for some unfathomable reason. Perhaps he had conjured it all from thin air.

A whirlwind of questions battered her mind, each one more daunting than the last. Athena felt as though she were holding onto the very edge of a precipice, teetering on the brink of despair. Her hands were tightly clenched in her lap, the knuckles turning a ghostly white as she grappled with her emotions.

Click.

The heavy, dark gray door across from her creaked open with a disheartening sound.

Athena’s heart seemed to seize in her chest, leaping into her throat as if trying to escape the reality of the moment.

She instinctively straightened her posture, her gaze locked onto the door as it swung open with agonizing slowness.

A man shuffled into the room, clad in a loose-fitting prison uniform, flanked by two guards who stood like sentinels on either side.

For a fleeting moment, Athena found herself breathless, stunned into silence.

Is that… Lewis?

The man before her was a shadow of the person she once knew. He had always been meticulous, his appearance carefully curated to project an image of a gentleman. But now, he appeared as if life itself had been siphoned from him, all traces of confidence and bravado extinguished.

The prison uniform hung limply on his gaunt frame, accentuating how frail he had become.

His hair was cropped short, revealing patches of pale scalp beneath, and the stark cut deepened the harsh lines of his face.

His skin had taken on an ashen hue, his eyes were sunken and hollow, and his mouth wore a perpetual frown—each feature etched with the weight of exhaustion and defeat.

It was as if he had aged two decades within the confines of those walls. She could only catch a fleeting glimpse of the man he once was when their eyes finally met, a brief flicker of recognition passing between them.

Almost mechanically, Lewis positioned himself across the glass barrier from her and lifted the phone receiver with trembling hands.

Athena mirrored his actions, her heart racing as she prepared to confront the truth.

She took the initiative, her voice steady yet laced with urgency. “Tell me everything about my daughter—every single detail. I need to know exactly what happened. Lewis, I came here because you asked me to, so please don’t hold anything back.”

There was no room for idle chatter, no warmth left in their exchange.

Athena decided to confront the issue head-on.

“What did you mean when you said it wasn’t you that night?” she asked directly, her voice sharp and unwavering.

Memories surged back—she had been intoxicated at a party, waking up to find Lewis beside her. He had assured her he would take responsibility, and though she hadn’t been thrilled about it, it felt natural at the time since they had been dating.

“Spill!” she snapped, her nails digging into her palm, a physical manifestation of her mounting frustration.

Lewis’s face contorted in distress. He opened his mouth, but for a moment, no words emerged.

“Y-your child…,” he stammered, his voice trembling so much it was barely recognizable. “Isn’t mine.”

Time seemed to freeze around them.

The ambient noise of the room—the guards’ footsteps, the distant chatter, even the sound of her own heartbeat—faded into nothingness.

All she could do was stare at Lewis through the cold glass barrier, watching him form the words that would shatter her world once more.

“Not yours?” she echoed, disbelief lacing her voice, as if she were trying to grasp the enormity of what he had just said.

“After the party that night…” Lewis’s voice cracked, each word laced with pain.

“It was complicated. The truth is, you were only drunk because I tampered with your drink. I had planned to sleep with you, but then Nina called, saying she felt sick…”