Reborn at Eighteen The Billionaire's Second Chance novel Chapter 100

Chapter 100

Elara

We both turned.

My chest tightened.

Sloane stood at the other end of the corridor. Cream coat. File folder

in her hands. Perfect as always.

When she saw us together, her eyes went wide. Just for a second.

Then she smiled.

But I’d see

that first reaction. The surprise. The displeasure.

“Julian.” She walked over. Her heels clicking on the polished floor. She looked at him. Only him. I might as well not have existed. “What are you doing here?”

“Taking Elara for a checkup.”

His voice was neutral. Flat. The same tone he used in business

meetings.

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Sloane’s gaze flicked to me. Quick. Assessing. Then back to him.

“I’m here for a checkup too.”

Her hand moved to her stomach. The gesture was small. Unconscious.

Everything in me went cold.

No. No no no.

“Julian, I…”

Sloane’s smile changed. Became shy. Hopeful. Her eyes bright.

“I think I’m pregnant.”

The words hung in the air.

I looked at Julian. Watched his face.

Waited for his reaction.

This was what he wanted. What he’d always wanted. A baby with

Sloane. The perfect family. The perfect life.

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He should be happy. Excited. Something.

But his face went blank.

Completely blank.

His eyes were empty. Like all the light had gone out of them.

He didn’t smile. Didn’t speak.

Just stood there.

Five seconds passed. Then ten.

I counted them. Watched him.

Sloane’s smile started to falter. The brightness in her

eyes dimmed.

“Julian?” Her voice was smaller now. Uncertain. “Aren’t you… happy?”

He blinked. Like he was coming back from somewhere far away.

“Of course.”

The words came out flat. Automatic. Like he was reading from a

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script.

“I’m just surprised.”

But there was nothing in his voice. No warmth. No joy. Nothing.

I stared at him. This wasn’t right.

In my past life, he’d said it over and over. “The only child I’ll ever

have will be with Sloane.”

He’d said it to me. When I was pregnant with Lily. When I begged him

to acknowledge her.

“Get rid of it. The only child I’ll ever have will be with Sloane.”

So why did he look like this?

Like someone had just told him something he didn’t want to hear.

Sloane was watching him too. I saw confusion cross her face. Hurt.

“Are you sure?” Julian asked.

His voice was careful. Controlled.

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“I bought a pregnancy test.” Sloane held up the folder. Her hand was shaking slightly. “I was about to take it. Will you… come with me?”

Julian glanced at me.

Our eyes met.

For one second, I saw something in his face. Something I couldn’t

name.

Then it was gone.

He looked back at Sloane. Nodded. “Of course.”

He moved toward her. Put his arm around her shoulders.

She leaned into him. Relief on her face.

He turned to me. “Atlas will take you home.”

I nodded. Couldn’t speak. My throat was too tight.

I watched them walk away together. Sloane’s body pressed against his

side. Her head tilted toward him. Talking softly.

EMR

Chapter 100

Julian’s arm around her was stiff.

His movements were mechanical.

Wrong.

Everything about it was wrong.

Atlas drove in silence. I sat in the back seat. Watched the city slide

past.

My mind kept replaying the scene.

Sloane’s announcement.

Julian’s face.

That blank expression.

I’d expected happiness. Joy. Excitement.

Not that. Not emptiness.

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I thought about my past life. Tried to remember.

When Sloane had told me she was pregnant–it was at a family

dinner. She’d been glowing. Holding Julian’s hand. So happy.

“This is it for me. This baby–it’s everything I wanted.”

And Julian?

I tried to remember his reaction.

He’d smiled. Said something appropriate. Kissed her hand.

But his eyes–they’d been the same as today.

Empty.

Like he was going through the motions.

When I’d told him about Lily, he’d been cold. Angry.

“Get rid of it.”

But I’d thought—I’d always thought–that with Sloane it would be

different.

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That he’d want that baby. Love that baby.

But today–today he’d looked the same way he’d looked at me.

Blank. Distant. Nothing.

The car pulled up to my building. Atlas opened my door.

“Miss Vance.”

I climbed out. My legs felt weak. Shaky.

“Thank you, Atlas.”

He nodded. Got back in the car. Drove away.

I stood on the sidewalk. Looked up at the building.

The fire escape was rusty. The walls covered in graffiti. Nothing like

the clean, perfect world Julian lived in.

I walked into the building. Climbed the stairs.

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Let myself into the apartment..

Mama was cooking. The smell of sofrito filled the air. Yuki and Diego

were arguing about brush techniques in the living room.

I went to my room. Closed the door. I lay back on the bed. Stared at

the ceiling. The water stain in the corner that looked vaguely like a

cloud.

Sloane was pregnant.

With Julian’s baby.

The baby that should have been everything he wanted.

But his face-

I couldn’t stop seeing it.

That blank expression.

That emptiness.

I sat up. Hugged my knees to my chest.

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All this time I’d thought he loved Sloane.

That she was the one he wanted. The one he’d chosen.

That I was nothing. Just a mistake. An inconvenience.