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.

their heated arguments in the past. Back then, a teary-eyed tug on his sleeve would do the trick. Now, he was as

that to her?"

though she expected the

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

your daughter too. Why treat her like

you talking about, Dan? Julia is my only daughter. The child I had with the Riley family was killed during a home

and tossed two

Lillian's blood ran cold as she read the contents. They were paternity test reports. The other report was recent, taken the night Stella arrived, using a strand of her

tests showed a 99.999% probability that Stella was Daniel's daughter, while Julia had

trembled as she realized the truth. The Kindle Society could make submarines; of course, they could

about this all these years?" she asked, locking eyes

Daniel had thought about it but ultimately chose to accept it. He had been away on a secret mission for over a year, barely surviving. When he returned to Griffith, eager to talk about marriage with Lillian, he found out she was marrying another man. A lot had happened in Lillian's family during his absence, and his career hadn't allowed him to be there for her. He felt guilty

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

when Daniel learned about the child they

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

she had secretly given birth and

never married, not for lack of suitable partners, but because his career didn't leave much room

the one he never got to meet. If only he hadn't taken that mission, maybe their child would have been born safely, and he would have had the chance to be