Reborn at Eighteen The Billionaire's Second Chance novel Chapter 267

Chapter 267

Elara

The facility sat in Westchester County, hidden behind manicured lawns and iron gates. Atlas drove me through security checkpoints where guards waved us through the moment they saw the Vane name on the visitor list. The building looked like an expensive spa–cream stone, careful landscaping, everything tasteful and quiet. But I noticed the reinforced windows. The cameras tucked into corners. The doors that locked from the outside.

“Miss Vance. The director smiled at me. “Miss Kennedy is expecting you.”

She led me down hallways that smelled like lavender and bleach. We passed common rooms where other pregnant women sat reading or doing yoga, all of them young, all of them wearing the same careful expression that didn’t quite hide the fear underneath.

Sloane’s room was at the end of the hall, larger than the others. Through the window in the door, I saw her before she saw me. She sat in an armchair by the window, one hand on her belly, the other holding a book she wasn’t reading. She wore a loose gray sweater, her hair pulled back in a simple ponytail. Without the designer clothes and perfect makeup, she looked younger. Smaller.

The director knocked. Sloane’s head turned. She set down the book and folded her hands in her lap, straightening her spine like she was preparing for a

fight.

“I’ll be right outside,” the director said, unlocking the door.

The room was beautiful. Cream walls, hardwood floors, expensive furniture. Fresh peonies on the dresser. The bed was made with perfect hospital corners. Everything clean and ordered and untouched.

Sloane watched me look around. “Come to gloat?” Her voice was flat, empty of the sweetness I’d learned to expect. “Or did Julian send you to make sure I’m

staying in my cage?”

1 closed the door. The click echoed louder than it should have. “Neither. I came because I needed to see you. To say something.”

She laughed, sharp and bitter. “What could you possibly have left to say? You won. Congratulations.” Her hand moved to her stomach. You got Julian You got your art career. You destroyed mine. What more do you want–my firstborn?” She realized what she’d said a second later. Her face twisted.

་

“I got into RISD. The words came out before I’d decided to say them. ‘Full scholarship. I’ll be in Providence by fall.”

Sloane’s fingers went white on the armrest. She stared at me for a long moment, something like hatred burning in her eyes. Then she smiled, cold and sharp *How wonderful for you. The poor little artist, rising from the ashes. It’s like a fairy tale.” She paused. “You know what the best part is? You’ll keep going.

Getting better, getting famous, getting everything you ever wanted. And I’ll be here. Stuck. Finished.”

‘You chose-

‘I chose nothing!‘ The words exploded out of her. I flinched. She caught herself, breathing hard. When she spoke again, her voice was lower but just as intense. “You think I had a choice? You think any of this was what I wanted?‘ She pressed her hand harder against her belly. I’m twenty years old, Elara. Twenty. And my life is already over. My career is gone. My reputation is destroyed. And in a few months, I’ll have a baby Julian’s baby who will inherit everything while I rot in some European exile counting my settlement money.

The rawness in her voice caught me off guard. I’d prepared myself for venom, for manipulation. Not for this this glimpse of the girl underneath, young and trapped and scared.

“Why didn’t you want to keep the baby?” The question slipped out. If you’re having Julian’s child anyway, why agree to give up custody? Why let them send

you away?”

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Chapter 267

Sloane’s laugh was ugly. “You really don’t understand, do you? I don’t want to be a mother, Elara. I never did. The pregnancy, the baby–it’s just…” she

gestured at her stomach, her face twisting with disgust. It’s ruining my body. Ending my career. Trapping me here. I hate every second of it.”

I thought of Lily. Of how desperately I’d wanted to keep her, to protect her, to watch her grow. Of how I’d begged for even the smallest chance to be her

mother. And here was Sloane, carrying Julian’s child, seeing it as nothing but a burden.

Then why not- I couldn’t finish.

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