CHAPTER 1 DADDY…
The hockey stick came down again.
Grace saw it coming.
She twisted her body at the last second, taking the blow across her shoulder instead of Lily’s head.
Pain exploded through her.
She hit the marble floor hard.
But her arms never opened.
She kept Lily trapped against her chest.
“Mommy!”
Lily screamed.
Grace gritted her teeth.
“Don’t look, sweetheart. Close your eyes.”
The little girl buried her face against Grace’s dress, trembling so violently that Grace could feel every breath.
Victoria stood above them.
Her white designer dress was still spotless.
Not a wrinkle.
Not a stain.
She looked less like a woman who had just attacked someone and more like a bride waiting for photographs.
The hockey stick rested against her shoulder.
Her lips curled into a smile.
“You should have listened to me, Grace.”
Grace slowly lifted her head.
Blood was trickling from the corner of her mouth.
“I told you…”
Her voice shook.
“I’m not giving you my daughter.”
Victoria’s smile disappeared.
“Your daughter?”
She laughed softly.
“You still think you have a daughter to give away?”
Grace’s heart pounded.
Victoria stepped closer.
“You should have stayed invisible.”
“I tried.”
“No.”
Victoria tightened her grip on the stick.
“You tried to survive.”
She raised it again.
“And that was your mistake.”
Grace squeezed Lily tighter.
Then the front door opened.
The sound echoed through the enormous house.
Victoria froze.
Grace froze.
Footsteps crossed the foyer.
Slow.
Heavy.
Familiar.
A man's voice called from the hallway.
“Victoria?”
Nathan.
Grace's blood turned cold.
Victoria lowered the hockey stick.
“Nathan…”
Nathan Cole appeared in the kitchen doorway.
He had just returned from the airport.
His black suit was still buttoned.
His expensive watch caught the light.
One hand held his phone.
The other held the leather bag he had carried from the car.
He stopped.
Completely still.
His eyes moved across the room.
The broken vase.
The overturned chair.
Grace on the floor.
Blood on her shoulder.
And Victoria standing over her.
Then he saw the child.
A tiny girl.
Four years old.
Curled beneath Grace's arms.
Crying.
Nathan's expression changed.
“What's going on?”
Victoria dropped the hockey stick.
It hit the floor with a sharp metallic sound.
“Nathan, this isn't what it looks like.”
Grace stared at him.
Five years.
Five years since she'd last seen those eyes.
Five years since she'd stood outside his father's mansion with a newborn in her arms.
Five years since she had been told that if Nathan ever found out about Lily, the child would disappear.
Grace had believed Nathan hated her.
She had believed he had chosen his family.
She had believed leaving him was the only way to keep Lily alive.
But now he was standing three feet away.
And he was looking at her.
Nathan took one step forward.
“Grace?”
His voice barely came out.
Grace looked away.
“Don't.”
“Grace…”
“Don't come closer.”
Nathan stopped.
His eyes dropped to Lily.
Something about the little girl's face disturbed him.
The shape of her eyes.
The small dimple beneath her left cheek.
The dark hair.
His breathing changed.
“Who is she?”
Grace said nothing.
Victoria quickly stepped between them.
“She broke into the house.”
Nathan looked at her.
“What?”
“She stole something.”
Grace's eyes widened.
Victoria continued quickly.
“She was trying to take the child and run.”
Nathan stared at Grace.
“You're lying.”
Victoria's face hardened.
“I saw her.”
Nathan ignored her.
His gaze returned to Grace.
“Why are you here?”
Grace tried to stand.
Her shoulder screamed.
She nearly collapsed again.
Nathan instinctively moved forward.
Grace backed away.
“Don't touch me.”
That hurt him more than she intended.
His jaw tightened.
“What happened to you?”
Victoria interrupted.
“Nathan, please. We can discuss this upstairs.”
He didn't move.
“Who hit her?”
Silence.
Nathan looked at the hockey stick.
Then at Victoria.
His voice became frighteningly calm.
“Who hit her?”
Victoria swallowed.
“I…”
Before she could finish, Lily slowly lifted her head.
Her tear-filled eyes met Nathan's.
For several seconds, she simply stared.
Nathan felt something inside him shift.
The little girl stared at him as though she had been waiting for him her entire life.
Grace whispered desperately.
“Lily, don't…”
But Lily didn't listen.
She crawled out from beneath Grace's arms.
Her tiny hands trembled.
She looked at Nathan.
Then she whispered one word.
“Daddy…”
Nathan stopped breathing.
The kitchen went silent.
Victoria's face turned white.
Grace closed her eyes.
She had spent four years protecting that secret.
Four years teaching Lily never to use that word.
Never in public.
Never around strangers.
Never around Nathan's family.
But the little girl didn't understand why everyone was afraid.
She simply looked at the man standing before her.
“Daddy…”
Nathan's phone slipped from his hand.
It hit the floor.
His eyes never left Lily.
“No…”
The word came out as a whisper.
He looked at Grace.
“Say that again.”
Grace's lips trembled.
“Nathan…”
“Say it.”
“She’s your daughter.”
Everything stopped.
Nathan stared at Lily.
Then at Grace.
Then back at Lily.
His face had lost all color.
“How old is she?”
Grace didn't answer.
“How old?”
“Four.”
Nathan stepped backward.
Four.
He calculated silently.
Four years.
Five years ago, Grace had disappeared.
Five years ago, his father had told him she had abandoned him.
Five years ago, Nathan had searched for her.
For months.
Then his father had shown him documents.
Messages.
Photographs.
Proof that Grace had supposedly chosen another man.
Proof that she had taken money.
Proof that she had wanted nothing to do with the Cole family.
Nathan had believed it.
Or tried to.
But now…
His daughter was standing in front of him.
And his fiancée had just tried to hurt her mother.
Nathan slowly turned toward Victoria.
“Did you know?”
Victoria said nothing.
“Did you know she was my daughter?”
“Nathan…”
“Answer me.”
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“I was trying to protect us.”
Nathan laughed once.
It wasn't amusement.
It was disbelief.
“Protect us?”
He pointed toward Lily.
“From her?”
Victoria's voice cracked.
“You don't understand what that child will do.”
Nathan's expression hardened.
“What did you just say?”
Victoria realized too late that she had revealed something she shouldn't have.
Grace looked at her.
“You knew.”
Nathan turned.
“What did she know?”
Grace remained silent.
Nathan approached her.
“Grace.”
She looked at him.
His eyes were no longer angry.
They were terrified.
“What happened five years ago?”
Grace's lips parted.
Before she could answer, the sound of footsteps came from the hallway.
Several men entered the kitchen.
Nathan's security team.
But behind them came someone Nathan hadn't expected.
His father.
Richard Cole.
The most powerful man in the Cole family.
The man who had told Nathan five years ago:
She's gone.
Richard looked at Lily.
For the first time in Nathan's life, his father looked afraid.
Then Richard slowly whispered:
“She's not supposed to be alive.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
Grace's face went white.
Lily grabbed Nathan's hand.
And Nathan finally understood.
His father wasn't surprised that he had a granddaughter.
He was surprised that she had survived.
Nathan looked at Richard.
“What did you do?”
Richard said nothing.
Nathan stepped toward him.
“I asked you a question.”
Richard's eyes moved to Grace.
Then to Lily.
Then back to Nathan.
“You have no idea what you've just brought into this house.”
Nathan's voice dropped.
“Then tell me.”
Richard shook his head.
“It's too late.”
“For what?”
Richard looked toward the hallway.
“Because they're already coming for her.”
At that exact moment, the mansion lights went out.
Every window went black.
The security alarm screamed.
May you like
And somewhere upstairs…
a gunshot shattered the silence.
