Chapter 1 — The Daughter Who Called Him Daddy
Chapter 1 — The Daughter Who Called Him Daddy
The hockey stick lay on the marble floor.
For several seconds, Nathan Cole could hear nothing except the sound of his own breathing.
The woman he was supposed to marry stood frozen near the fireplace.
Victoria.
Her white designer dress was immaculate, except for one tiny splash of red wine near the hem.
Grace was on the floor.
Her arms were wrapped around a little girl.
The child was crying so hard that her tiny shoulders shook.
And the words she had just spoken kept repeating inside Nathan's head.
Daddy.
Nathan stared at the little girl.
Four years old.
Dark brown hair.
Large gray eyes.
A tiny crescent-shaped birthmark beneath her left ear.
His breath caught.
He knew that birthmark.
He had one exactly like it.
His mother used to say it was the Cole family's mark.
A strange coincidence.
Nothing more.
Except now the little girl was looking at him with his own eyes.
Nathan slowly stepped forward.
Grace immediately tightened her arms around Lily.
“Don't.”
Her voice trembled.
Nathan stopped.
“Grace…”
“Please.”
“Is she mine?”
Grace closed her eyes.
The silence answered before she did.
Nathan's voice broke.
“Is Lily my daughter?”
Grace looked up.
Tears covered her face.
“Yes.”
One word.
That's all it took.
Nathan felt the world disappear beneath his feet.
Victoria suddenly stepped forward.
“Nathan, wait.”
He turned toward her.
She had gone completely pale.
“You knew.”
Victoria shook her head.
“I can explain.”
“You knew.”
“I didn't know everything.”
“You knew she was my daughter.”
Victoria said nothing.
Nathan looked at the photograph lying on the floor.
The photograph that had fallen from her handbag.
Him.
Grace.
Five years earlier.
Standing together beside a lake.
Grace was smiling.
Nathan was holding her hand.
And in the corner of the photograph was a date.
September 17.
Three weeks before Grace disappeared.
Nathan slowly picked it up.
“Why do you have this?”
Victoria's lips parted.
No answer came.
“Why?”
“I found it.”
“Where?”
She looked away.
Nathan's voice became colder.
“Victoria.”
“I found it in your father's office.”
His blood ran cold.
“My father's office?”
“Yes.”
“What was it doing there?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“I was trying to protect you.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“Protect me?”
He pointed toward Grace.
“You were standing over her with a hockey stick.”
Victoria flinched.
“I lost control.”
“You tried to hurt my daughter.”
“I didn't know she was—”
“You knew.”
Victoria went silent.
Nathan looked at Grace.
“Tell me everything.”
Grace shook her head.
“Not here.”
“Then where?”
“Anywhere but here.”
Nathan looked at Victoria.
Then at his daughter.
He made a decision.
“Everyone leaves.”
Victoria stared at him.
“Nathan…”
“Leave.”
“But—”
“Now.”
The servants immediately lowered their eyes.
Victoria stood motionless.
Nathan pointed toward the door.
“I said leave.”
Victoria finally walked away.
But before she disappeared into the hallway, she turned.
Her eyes met Nathan's.
There was something in them.
Fear.
Not fear of losing him.
Fear of what he was about to discover.
Grace struggled to stand.
Nathan instinctively moved toward her.
She stepped back.
That hurt more than he expected.
“I can stand.”
“You're bleeding.”
“I've been through worse.”
Nathan looked at the bruise forming across her cheek.
“Who hit you?”
Grace glanced toward the hockey stick.
“Victoria.”
His jaw tightened.
“I'll call the police.”
“No.”
“Grace—”
“No police.”
“Why?”
“Because if the police come, my daughter becomes the center of a war she doesn't understand.”
Nathan stared at her.
“She is my daughter.”
Grace swallowed.
“I know.”
“I have a right to protect her.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you hide her from me?”
Grace looked away.
“Because five years ago, I thought you were going to let your father destroy us.”
Nathan froze.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
Grace didn't answer.
Nathan moved closer.
“What did Richard do?”
Grace's eyes filled with tears.
“He made sure you believed I left you.”
Nathan's face changed.
“You did leave.”
“I disappeared.”
“You stopped answering my calls.”
“Because I wasn't allowed to.”
“You sent me a letter saying you didn't love me.”
“I never wrote that.”
Nathan stared at her.
“What?”
Grace whispered:
“I never wrote that letter.”
Nathan felt the room spin.
Five years.
Five years of believing the woman he loved had abandoned him.
Five years of believing their relationship had been a mistake.
Five years of carrying anger he thought he had earned.
And now she was telling him the letter had never been hers.
“Who wrote it?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don't expect anything from you.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
Grace looked at Lily.
The little girl had stopped crying.
She was watching Nathan carefully.
Grace crouched beside her.
“Sweetheart, go upstairs with Mrs. Miller.”
“But Mommy…”
“It's okay.”
Lily looked at Nathan.
Then slowly reached for him.
Nathan froze.
Grace saw it.
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
Nathan knelt.
Lily walked toward him.
She placed her tiny hand into his.
His entire body went still.
Her hand was warm.
Small.
Real.
She looked up at him.
“Are you really Daddy?”
Nathan couldn't speak.
Grace covered her mouth.
Nathan swallowed hard.
“Yes.”
Lily smiled.
“I knew it.”
He blinked.
“How?”
“Mommy has your picture.”
Nathan looked at Grace.
She closed her eyes.
Lily continued innocently:
“She talks to it when she thinks I'm sleeping.”
Grace's face crumpled.
Nathan couldn't breathe.
He gently touched Lily's hair.
“Did Mommy tell you about me?”
“A little.”
“What did she say?”
“That you were kind.”
Nathan's eyes burned.
“Anything else?”
“She said you loved us.”
Grace turned away.
Nathan looked at his daughter.
“I do.”
Lily smiled.
Then hugged him.
Nathan wrapped his arms around her.
And something inside him broke.
Not from pain.
From the realization of everything he had lost.
First steps.
First words.
First birthday.
First fever.
First day of school.
Every moment.
Gone.
Because someone had decided he didn't deserve to know his own child existed.
Later that night, Grace sat across from Nathan in his private study.
The door was locked.
Lily was asleep upstairs.
Nathan placed the photograph on the desk.
“Start at the beginning.”
Grace looked at it.
“We met five years ago.”
“I remember.”
“I was working for your foundation.”
“You were an assistant.”
“I was.”
“You never told me your family had money.”
“I didn't.”
“You told me your father was a teacher.”
“He was.”
Nathan frowned.
“Then why did my father care about you?”
Grace hesitated.
“Because your father didn't care about me.”
“What did he care about?”
“You.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“Why?”
Grace's hands tightened.
“Because he knew you were going to marry me.”
Nathan stared.
“We weren't married.”
“No.”
“You were pregnant?”
Grace nodded.
“When did you find out?”
“Two months before I disappeared.”
Nathan's heart tightened.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I tried.”
“How?”
“I called you.”
“I never received those calls.”
“I sent messages.”
“I never got them.”
“I came to your office.”
“My father told me you never came.”
Grace looked down.
“Exactly.”
Nathan slowly stood.
“My father intercepted everything.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he didn't want me to have your child.”
Nathan's face hardened.
“Why?”
Grace's voice dropped.
“Because he believed your future belonged to the Cole family.”
Nathan walked toward the window.
He remembered his father's words.
You need to think about your position.
The Cole name comes first.
A wife can be replaced.
At the time, Nathan had assumed his father simply disliked Grace.
Now the words sounded different.
“Did he threaten you?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He told me that if I stayed, you would lose everything.”
Nathan turned.
“He couldn't do that.”
“He controlled the trust.”
“He didn't control me.”
“He controlled the information.”
Grace wiped her tears.
“He showed me documents.”
“What documents?”
“Financial records.”
“Fake?”
“Some were real.”
“What did they show?”
“That you were about to lose the company.”
Nathan frowned.
“I wasn't.”
“I didn't know that.”
“What else?”
“He showed me photographs of you with another woman.”
Nathan froze.
“Who?”
“Victoria.”
Silence.
Nathan remembered.
A charity dinner.
Victoria had been standing beside him.
Nothing had happened.
But the photographs could have looked different.
Grace had been pregnant.
Afraid.
Alone.
And his father had controlled what she saw.
“What did he tell you?”
“That you had chosen Victoria.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“He lied.”
“I know that now.”
“You believed him?”
“I believed the evidence.”
Nathan looked at her.
“You should have asked me.”
“I tried.”
His chest tightened.
“You should have fought for us.”
“I did.”
Grace's voice broke.
“For weeks.”
Then she whispered:
“Until your father came to my apartment.”
Nathan stopped breathing.
“What did he say?”
Grace stared at him.
“He told me that if I didn't disappear, Lily would never be safe.”
Nathan's hands curled into fists.
“He threatened Lily?”
“She wasn't born yet.”
“He knew?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He had someone following me.”
Nathan looked horrified.
“He knew you were pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“He knew she was my child.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he simply tell me?”
“Because you would have chosen us.”
Nathan said nothing.
Grace continued.
“That's what scared him.”
Nathan sat down.
For years, he had thought his father had wanted what was best for him.
A successful marriage.
A powerful family.
A stable company.
Now he wondered whether every decision had been a calculation.
Every person.
Every relationship.
Every opportunity.
A chess piece.
Including him.
“What happened the night you disappeared?”
Grace took a slow breath.
“I was leaving.”
“Where?”
“Canada.”
Nathan's eyes widened.
“Why?”
“To keep Lily away from your father.”
“Then what happened?”
“His men stopped me.”
Nathan stood.
“What?”
“They took my phone.”
“Where?”
“Outside the city.”
“Did they hurt you?”
Grace looked down.
“No.”
A pause.
“They didn't need to.”
“What does that mean?”
“They showed me a photograph.”
Nathan waited.
“Your car.”
“What about it?”
“Your father had arranged for it to be sabotaged.”
Nathan's face went pale.
“Whose car?”
“Yours.”
“When?”
“The next morning.”
Nathan remembered.
He had planned to drive to Grace's apartment.
His car had failed.
He had assumed it was mechanical.
“You're saying…”
Grace nodded.
“If I hadn't disappeared, you might have died.”
Nathan couldn't speak.
The study door suddenly opened.
Victoria stood there.
Her face was wet with tears.
“Nathan.”
He turned.
“I told you to leave.”
“I need to tell you something.”
Grace stood.
“You've said enough.”
Victoria looked at her.
“No.”
Then she turned to Nathan.
“Your father didn't just make Grace disappear.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“What else did he do?”
Victoria swallowed.
“He made me part of the plan.”
Grace stared at her.
“What?”
Victoria began crying.
“He told me you were dangerous.”
Grace shook her head.
“You knew I was pregnant.”
“I found out later.”
“You knew Lily was Nathan's daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And you still married him?”
“I was supposed to.”
Nathan looked at her.
“You were supposed to?”
Victoria nodded.
“Your father promised me everything.”
“What did he promise?”
“The Cole name.”
“The company.”
“The mansion.”
“And you?”
“I would become your wife.”
Nathan stared at her in disbelief.
“So this was planned.”
“Yes.”
“From the beginning?”
Victoria nodded.
“But there was one thing your father didn't anticipate.”
“What?”
Victoria looked at Grace.
“She survived.”
Grace's face went pale.
Victoria continued:
“He told me Grace was dead.”
Nathan froze.
“You thought she was dead?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
Nathan stared.
“Why?”
“Because your father told me she had died during childbirth.”
Grace's hand flew to her mouth.
Nathan's face turned cold.
“He told you that?”
“Yes.”
“And you believed him?”
“I saw the hospital record.”
Nathan turned toward Grace.
She was crying.
“He told everyone I died,” she whispered.
“But you didn't.”
“No.”
“You were alive.”
“Yes.”
“And Lily…”
“She was born alive.”
Nathan's eyes filled.
“Then why didn't you come back?”
Grace looked at him.
“Because your father made sure I couldn't.”
A sound came from the hallway.
A door closing.
Nathan immediately looked toward the entrance.
Victoria went silent.
Grace whispered:
“Someone is here.”
Nathan moved toward the door.
He opened it.
The hallway was empty.
But something lay on the floor.
An envelope.
Nathan picked it up.
No name.
No address.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
His father's handwriting.
Nathan recognized it instantly.
The message contained only one sentence.
You should have listened when I told you Grace was dangerous.
Nathan's blood ran cold.
At the bottom was a second line.
Lily is not the only secret she kept from you.
Nathan looked toward Grace.
She had gone completely white.
“Grace?”
She said nothing.
“What secret?”
Grace slowly shook her head.
“Nathan…”
“What didn't you tell me?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I wanted to.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“What is it?”
She looked toward the upstairs bedroom.
Toward Lily.
Then back at Nathan.
“There is something about the night Lily was born.”
“What?”
Grace's voice trembled.
“She wasn't alone.”
Nathan stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Grace closed her eyes.
“Your father wasn't the only person waiting at that hospital.”
Nathan's heart began pounding.
“Who else was there?”
Grace looked at him.
And whispered:
“Someone from my family.”
Before Nathan could ask another question, the lights throughout the mansion suddenly went out.
Lily screamed upstairs.
Nathan ran.
Grace followed.
And somewhere in the darkness…
a man laughed.
A deep, familiar laugh.
Nathan stopped halfway up the staircase.
He knew that voice.
His father.
Richard Cole.
The man Nathan had believed was thousands of miles away.
The man who was supposed to be dead to him.
The man who had supposedly left the country years ago.
A voice came from the darkness above.
“You finally found your daughter, Nathan.”
May you like
A pause.
“Now let's see if you can keep her.”
