18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 398

Daniel was back, his face as unreadable as a stone. The more emotionless he looked, the more anxious Lillian felt, but she forced a smile and stood up to greet him. "Welcome home, Dan." He glanced around the house with a nonchalant "Hmm."

Lillian stepped closer, reaching for his briefcase. "You barely come home. What would you like for dinner? I'll make something special."

Ignoring her question, Daniel shifted his gaze to Julia, whose face was bruised and swollen. "Julia, can you give us a moment? I need to talk to your mom."

Julia, nursing her wounds and mulling over a response, found herself tongue-tied under Daniel's stern gaze. His silent authority left her feeling utterly powerless, fear creeping into her very bones. She retreated to her room, closing the door with a sense of dread.

Daniel sat down and motioned for Lillian to do the same. "Sit."

Lillian took a deep breath, trying to maintain her composure. "What's wrong with you? Why the long face after work?"

He remained silent, just staring at her.

It felt as if he was looking through her, seeing someone else a woman who was once lively and passionate, who defied societal norms and promised to marry him no matter what. Thirty years had drastically changed that image.

Lillian hated his scrutinizing gaze; it made her feel like the worst kind of villain.

heated arguments in the past. Back then, a teary-eyed tug on his sleeve would

do that to her?" Daniel finally

though she expected the

quickly realized what he meant. "Are you talking about what happened at the mall today? That was a misunderstanding. The person has held a grudge against

off. "Stella is your daughter too. Why treat her like

with the Riley family was killed during a

his briefcase and tossed two

she read the contents. They were paternity test reports. The other report was recent, taken the night Stella arrived, using a strand of her

daughter, while Julia had no blood relation to

Society could make submarines; of course, they could conduct a DNA test. It just

never confronted me about this all these years?" she

about marriage with Lillian, he found out she was marrying

had cried, saying he wasn't there when her family went bankrupt, when she was pregnant, when she miscarried, and now,

Daniel learned about the child

after seeing hospital documents and witnessing Lillian's fiancé at a prenatal appointment, he realized that her

decades later, Lillian would call to say the child was alive-that she had secretly given birth and that the Riley family

married, not for lack of suitable partners, but because his career didn't leave much room

never got to meet. If only he hadn't taken that mission,