“H-how did you draw this?” William asked, his voice shaking, unable to look away.
The boy hesitated.
“I… I saw her,” he said quietly.
William turned slowly.
“Where?”
“She used to come to me… when I slept near the old church,” the boy said. “She brought me bread sometimes… covered me with her coat… told me I had to be strong…”
William’s chest tightened.
Elizabeth had died… eleven years ago.
Or so he believed.
“What’s your name?” he asked, barely breathing.
“Lucas,” the boy said.
The world tilted.
Lucas.
The name Elizabeth had chosen… for the child William believed had never been born.
Memories crashed into him.
Back then, he wasn’t a billionaire. Just an ambitious man obsessed with success.
When Elizabeth told him she was pregnant… he panicked.
“I can’t do this… not now,” he had said. “This will ruin everything.”
She cried. Begged.
But he walked away.
Months later, he got the news:
She died during childbirth.
The baby didn’t survive.
He never questioned it.
It was easier to bury the pain… and move on.
But now…
“Lucas…” William whispered, staring at the boy. “Do you… know who your father is?”
The boy shook his head.
“No… Mom just said he was someone important… but I shouldn’t look for him.”
William covered his face, trembling.
“And… your mother… her name was Elizabeth?”
The boy’s eyes lit up.
“Yes! You knew her?!”
Silence crashed between them.
Heavy. Unavoidable.
William looked at the boy again.
Really looked this time.
The eyes. The features. The way he frowned.
It was like staring at himself… years ago.
A broken breath escaped him.
“I… I’m your father, Lucas.”
The world stopped.
The boy blinked.
Once. Twice.
“No…” he whispered. “That’s not true…”
William stepped closer carefully, as if approaching something fragile.
“I didn’t know,” he said. “I thought you… both of you…”
Lucas stepped back.
“You’re lying!” he shouted, voice cracking. “If you’re my dad—then where were you?!”
The question cut deeper than any blade.
William had no quick answer.
Because the truth… was ugly.
“I was wrong,” he said quietly. “I was a coward. And I’ve been paying for it ever since.”
Lucas clenched his fists.
“I was hungry!” he cried. “I slept on the streets! I called for her every night!”
Each word hit like a punch.
William didn’t defend himself.
He couldn’t.
“I know…” he said softly. “And nothing I say can fix that… but please… give me a chance to try.”
The boy’s breathing was shaky.
“I don’t need you…” he said—but his voice was weaker now.